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Ritsu opened his eyes, waking up with a start. There was something wrong, he realized. Whenever he slept in his senpai's bed, his transition from sleep to consciousness was usually smooth and pleasant. This one wasn't and the fifteen-year-old wondered what could have alarmed him. He shifted a bit, trying to find something amiss in the familar surroundings. They hadn’t been napping for too long, because the clock by the bed still showed it was late afternoon. The room was perfectly quiet; the shuttered windows let neither sound nor light in. With him and Saga being so close, Ritsu could freely admire his senpai’s sleeping face. He could never do so when Saga was awake, it was simply too embarrassing! He noted how relaxed Saga looked. Usually his senpai had such a sullen mask on. It was comforting for Ritsu to see him at peace.
Of course, it would have been even better if he were the one to make Saga feel this way!
Ritsu suddenly became aware that he was being watched. He turned around and almost yelped as he found a pair of navy blue eyes staring at him. His first impression was that some animal had come in the room. Then he realized that it was actually a little boy. He was sitting on the floor, so all Ritsu could see was his head. The boy's dark hair fell over his face in messy curls - small wonder Ritsu had thought he was some animal! He was studying Ritsu with an odd, slightly amusing pensive expression.
“U-um …”
“Who are you?” Even though the boy was whispering, his voice still echoed loudly in the room.
“U-um … My name is Ritsu.”
“Are you friends with my older brother?”
“A-ah … y-yes?”
Ritsu couldn’t imagine a more awkward situation. The boy looked no older than six, so it wasn’t very likely that he’d catch on to what was really going on. Kids weren't supposed to be very perceptive, were they? Nevertheless, he’d probably be curious about the stranger in his older brother’s bed. Saga wasn't one to bring home friends, Ritsu had gathered. He glanced at his senpai, wondering if he should wake him up. Saga would know how to handle this situation.
“Okay then.” Ignoring the obvious uncertainty in Ritsu’s voice, the boy seemed to lose much of his interest. “Will you make me cereal, Ritsu?”
“Ah …” Ritsu looked at Saga again.
“My brother makes me snacks, but he's sleeping now and I can’t wake him up. He yells at me when I do.” The boy explained, his expression growing sullen.
“Oh …”
Ritsu knew from experience how nasty being yelled at by Saga was. His senpai was usually quite reserved, but once he let his temper flare, there was no stopping him. Ritsu gave the boy a soft smile and sat up.
“Alright, I’ll make you cereal.”
He wasn’t particularly good at cooking, but how hard could it be to mix cereal and milk into a bowl? Pulling the blanket off, Ritsu got up and followed the boy to the kitchen downstairs. While the initial shock had died down significantly, he still felt a bit shaken up. Saga had mentioned having a younger sibling, but he'd never said anything about Ritsu actually meeting him. Perhaps he was anxious that if his younger brother found out the truth about them, he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret? Kids had very little sense of privacy, after all.
“What’s your name, by the way?” Ritsu asked as they entered the kitchen.
“Yusuke,” the boy replied. He dragged a chair near the counter and climbed on it. Opening a cupboard, he took a box of cereal out. It had a picture of a very popular cartoon character on it. “I like this cereal. It has vitamins and minerals and pixie dust and it’s very tasty.”
“O-okay …”
Ritsu felt a bit lost - this was the first time he’d stepped into the kitchen. He looked around helplessly, wondering if it would be alright for him to rummage around. He was a guest here, after all, he had to be aware of his boundaries. He peeked in a cupboard cautiously, almost expecting someone to appear out of nowhere and yell at him. When that didn't happen, he felt encouraged. He found a plastic bowl with rockets and stars on it. It seemed to be Yusuke's - at least, Ritsu couldn't imagine anyone else in the household using such a dish. He took the cereal box and hesitated for a few seconds, wondering how much cereal Yusuke usually ate. He glanced at the boy while he poured the cereal. Yusuke was leaning on the counter and looking at him with interest. When Ritsu took the milk out of the fridge, he spoke up.
“My brother always puts in honey before the milk.”
“Oh, then I’ll do that too.” Ritsu smiled. “Where’s the honey?”
The little boy pointed to a cupboard above his head and climbed on the counter to get it. Ritsu, scared that he might fall and hurt himself, hurried over. He managed to take the small amber-colored jar first.
“Hey!” Yusuke exclaimed and gave Ritsu a pout. “I can get it myself!”
“But you could have fallen down,” Ritsu said, a bit startled by the boy’s outburst.
“I won’t fall down.” He returned to his chair and laid his head on the counter. His annoyance seemed to have faded as quickly as it had appeared. “Why were you napping in my brother’s room? Don’t you have a bed at home?”
“Eh …” Ritsu hesitated, and then folded like a cheap suit. “Yeah …” He pushed the bowl closer to the boy. “Your cereal’s done. Better eat it now before it gets soggy!” He prompted in an overly cheerful manner, hoping that the food would distract him.
It did, and Yusuke quickly transferred his attention from Ritsu to the bowl. He shoved a spoonful into his mouth and munched happily. His chewing was louder than what Ritsu was normally used to. He studied Yusuke with interest. It seemed that Yusuke and Saga weren’t that much alike. It was obvious to Ritsu that Yusuke had an innate cheerfulness about him which was absent in his older brother. But from what Ritsu had understood, his senpai’s moodiness was because of the situation in his home. Perhaps Yusuke was too young to understand what his parents were going through?
“Do you like the cereal?” Ritsu asked gently.
“It’s tasty, but you put too little milk in it,” Yusuke replied casually. “My brother puts a lot of milk so I have something to drink after I finish the cereal.”
“Oh …” Ritsu flushed. “I didn’t know that. You like your brother a lot, don’t you?” He hadn’t missed how Yusuke’s blue eyes sparkled each time he mentioned Saga.
“Yup.” The boy nodded readily. “My brother is awesome. He makes me yummy snacks and he plays games with me. And at night we look for pixies in the garden.”
“Pixies?”
“Yeah!” Yusuke replied eagerly. “Pixies are little creatures that live in flowers and if you catch one, it will grant you a wish. But they sleep during the day, so you can only catch one at night.” His face darkened a bit and he pouted. “We haven’t caught any yet, but we will! My brother said he saw one a week ago but it ran away before he could get it.”
“Oh?” Ritsu tried to remain even-faced. It seemed like Yusuke truly believed in such silly things. Kids liked stories about monsters and pixies, no matter how stupid they were, didn't they? He didn’t want to make the boy sad and so he picked his next words carefully. “So what will you wish for when you catch a pixie?”
“I dunno.” Yusuke shrugged. “I’ll probably let my brother pick the wish. He’ll know better than me.” Suddenly his round face brightened and he jumped from his chair, running to the door. “Big brother!”
Saga was standing in the door, still looking a bit groggy. He smiled as Yusuke hugged him across the waist and ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately. Before speaking, he looked up and his eyes met Ritsu's. Ritsu blushed and turned away.
“Yusuke, I hope you haven’t annoyed our guest.”
“Of course that I haven’t.” Yusuke pouted slightly at the accusation. “I was nice to Ritsu and he made me cereal. But-” even though his voice dropped to a whisper, Ritsu could still hear his words, “-he put too little milk in it.”
“What a catastrophe!” Saga chuckled, giving Ritsu an amused look. “Well, he’ll know better next time, right?”
Next time ... Ritsu felt an odd, tingly warmth in his stomach at those words. There was going to be a next time ...
“Right!” Yusuke nodded. “Brother, can Ritsu come pixie hunting with us?”
“If he wants to.” Saga replied. “Now, Yusuke ... Did you do your homework?”
“Not yet. And I don’t wanna!” The boy pouted. “It’s stupid!”
“Stupid or not, you know that you have to do it.”
“That's so mean!" Yusuke stomped on the floor. "Why do I need to study more after school, but the teacher doesn’t need to teach more after school?”
Ritsu could see that Saga was impressed by the argument. His lips curled into a ghost of a smile. He ruffled Yusuke's hair again and then crouched down so that he could be on the same eye level as the boy.
“That may be so, Yusuke, but you need to understand that kids and adults have different responsibilities. Yours are going to school and doing your homework. Do you understand that?”
“I guess… ” Yusuke sighed. “But I still don't like it ..."
"Tell you what," Saga smiled, "if you do your homework, after you're done, we can all go and look for pixies in the garden. I think I found out where they're hiding during the day."
"Really?" Yusuke's cheeks took on a lovely crimson hue and he smiled at Saga. "I’m gonna go do it now!" With that, he dashed out of the room.
Ritsu had watched the exchange between the two brothers with amusement. But as the loud stomping of feet gradually faded, so did his smile. He suddenly realized that he and Saga were alone in the kitchen and that his senpai had his whole attention focused on him. To hide his embarrassment, Ritsu took the empty bowl and moved to the sink to wash it. That way he had his back to Saga and didn’t need to look at him.
“You know,” Saga began, speaking lowly, “I thought you were only nervous around me, but it seems I was wrong.” There was a hint of laughter in his voice. “How can you be shy around a five-year-old?”
“T-that’s …” Ritsu began and halted when he realized how high-pitched the word came out. “It’s not easy … He’s your brother after all! I … I wanted to make a good impression.”
“You don’t need to try so hard.” Saga stepped closer to him and put a hand on Ritsu’s shoulder. “Yusuke is a loving boy. I suppose he isn’t old enough to hate people yet. And he likes you – he wouldn’t have invited you to join us pixie hunting otherwise.”
“About that … does he really believe …?”
“I’m not so sure.” Saga frowned slightly. “He started to talk about them recently, I think he heard about them from some of his friends at pre-school. I play along because this makes him happy. And with things between our parents being the way they are… I think he’ll need it.”
“Oh …” There was an unspoken agreement between the two that they’d never discuss Saga’s parents, so Ritsu wasn’t sure how to reply to that. Luckily for him, he didn’t need to, because his senpai suddenly pulled him closer and pressed his lips against his forehead.
“I’m very happy that you and Yusuke are getting along,” he said. “He isn’t really a sociable kid.”
“He’s very nice,” Ritsu said earnestly. “And he seems very fond of you, Saga-senpai.”
“We’re very close.” The other nodded. “It’s basically just him and me at home, you know? I’ve been taking care of him since he was a baby.”
Ritsu was amazed to see Saga’s usual indifference melting away as he talked about his brother. It was obvious that the bond between the two brothers was a strong one. It was quite heartwarming, seeing the stoic teen so nurturing. Ritsu couldn’t help but smile.
“I think Yusuke is very lucky to have you, Saga-senpai,” he said. “And I think he knows that.”
“I’m lucky to have him too. He and Sorata make home a bit more bearable for me.” He smiled and wrapped an arm around Ritsu’s waist, pulling him to the door. “Yusuke will probably take a while with his homework. Let's go to my room.”
"B-but ... S-saga-senpai ... Yusuke can still hear ..." Ritsu's protests fell on deaf ears and with a sigh, he followed his senpai up the stairs.