Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

‘Argh— he's from the middle school building, shouldn't he worry about his own peers first?’ NPC A muttered venomously, tugging at the tie around his neck.

NPC B nodded, patting dust off her skirt. ‘He acts like he thinks he can get away with anything with that pretty face and good grades and a billion awards.’ 

‘We're older, we’re the “senpai”, shouldn't he treat us with respect?’ muttered NPC C darkly, before spitting on the ground. ‘No wonder his parents aren't around, I wouldn't want a kid like him anyway. If he were my kid, I'd kick his sorry ass out on the streets.’

There was a gasp, and NPC B practically jumped up in surprise. ‘Wa—ait. Really? Tokito's parents aren’t home?’

NPC C responded with a nonchalant shrug, ‘That's what I've heard, anyway. Word is they’ve left their two kids to live by themselves. Probably because they couldn't bear that attitude.’

‘Serves him right.’ NPC A put on a cold, shrill voice, ‘“Wear your uniforms properly, or I'll write you up.” He looks at us like roaches and treats us like dogs!’

‘Don’t forget the next line. “You're ruining the image of the school.” Who gives a fuck? Tokito, you think you're the apple of the school's eyes, but all that sucking up is useless when a ton of students want you gone.’

‘What prodigy, what genius, that’s just a snarky ass piece of shit!’

Mocking laughter erupted between the three seniors. They were gathered at a spot behind the school. Wind blew the trees, lightly rustling the leaves. Suddenly, a stick hit the back of NPC A’s head so hard that he lurched forward and nearly planted his face in the dirt. The attack was successful in interrupting their jeering.

Someone spoke. ‘Who’s a snarky ass piece of shit?’ Even though the person was nowhere to be found, the contempt in that tone sent shivers down the trio's spines.

‘Who’s there?!’ shrieked NPC B.

A young boy stepped out from behind the corner of a wall. His hair, black fading into a light teal, flowed behind him, creating the vague illusion of a caped figure. He looked straight at them without a shred of emotion, yet there seemed to be an aura of pure hatred radiating from his small body.

‘Whose parents don't want him?’ he continued asking as he unbuttoned the outer jacket of the middle school uniform he was wearing. 

‘Tokito, listen—’ began NPC A nervously, but NPC C stopped him.

NPC C chuckled. ‘Not the real thing. That’s the younger twin.’ He turned to Tokito Muichiro with a small smile. ‘Muichiro-kun, don't mind us. We're just talking. Can't arrest us for talking, can you now?’

Muichiro did not reply. He only took off the jacket of his gakuran uniform, folded it neatly, and set it down on a cleaner part of the dirt.

‘Be a good boy and run along to your nii-chan now, why don't—’ NPC C didn't get to finish his sentence before a hammer-like fist sunk straight into his nose, and a sharp crack sparked a fire in the atmosphere.

The front door opened, then slammed close. It could only be Muichiro, returning from his little hangout with his friends at school. Although Yuichiro had agreed to let Muichiro stay back, he had just arrived at a much later time than what they had agreed on. That was plenty enough for Yuichiro's blood pressure to rise.

‘Finally remembered where your house is?’ drawled Yuichiro, loud enough to be projected to the living room. He continued to break apart the pieces of beef he was browning in a pan.

Yet, only stomps greeted his words. Curious, he finally glanced back at the living room, just in time to catch Muichiro gloomily trudging past.

Yuichiro’s well-trained eyes immediately spotted strange details. Even though Muichiro's uniform seemed clean and tidy, his hair was sticking out in some spots, and there was a smudge on his cheek that looked too red to be blush. Most noticeably, he wore a blank grimace that only appeared whenever someone truly struck his nerves. Closing his eyes, Yuichiro could barely make out the few words that Muichiro was muttering under his breath. “Blind”, “idiots”, “stupid rumours”... What is he on about? 

‘Muichiro?’ He abandoned the not-yet-browned beef, and strode to his brother before the latter could slink back into his room. ‘What's up with you?’

Muichiro stared at Yuichiro with a pained expression, before turning away deftly and deadpanning, ‘Nothing.’

Odd. This was a very odd reaction. Yuichiro, taken aback, poked his younger brother's shoulder. ‘Did something happen?’ 

‘No. Nothing happened.’ Muichiro was insistent on his narrative.

With this reply, Yuichiro's curiosity rose, and his worry spiked. Something definitely happened, but Muichiro was hiding it for some reason. Fine! Yuichiro thought to himself, Maybe he’d be willing to talk after dinner. 

He clicked his tongue and turned back to the kitchen. Before leaving, he said, ‘Go wash up, then sit at the table.’

Not a single story was shared throughout dinner. However Yuichiro tried to get Muichiro to talk about what had happened before, Muichiro would only respond in blunt statements without a single elaboration. Even more shocking, Muichiro gathered the dishes after dinner and went to wash them before Yuichiro could say anything.

But it was all right. If Muichiro was stubborn, Yuichiro could easily match his stubbornness. He sat on the sofa to wait for Muichiro to finish washing the dishes. Right when the sound of running water stopped, he called without turning back, ‘Come here, don't you dare run away.’

The space next to him was soon replaced with a person. Yuichiro repressed a sigh and turned to Muichiro calmly. ‘I know something happened to you. Could you stop being childish and tell me?’

No answer. Yuichiro raised his voice, ‘Do you want to get detention? If I look around and find that something did happen, and you're roped in, don't blame me for writing you up!’

Of course, this was only an empty threat. Muichiro fearlessly responded, ‘Write me up, then. You wouldn't find anything, anyway. I've already told you, nothing happened.’

Yuichiro was momentarily struck dumb with the coldness. As a last resort, he reluctantly threw all sense of shame out of the window, and turned a complete 180 degrees.

‘I'm just worried about you, Mui.’ He wore a small smile, expressing so much love and affection that it would've gotten him full marks in a drama class. ‘Could you tell me, please? I won't get angry at you. See, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight if I continue to worry…’

If there was something the twins excelled at more than anything, it was lying through their teeth and conjuring up crocodile tears. Their act would be so pitiful that even the most cold-hearted people would grow soft. When employed on one another, this method would get a 50% buff of effectiveness.

Muichiro’s eyes grew wide and his mouth opened slightly. Yuichiro pushed further, spreading his arms invitingly while internally dying from embarrassment, ‘Hm?’

His eyes immediately darted to Muichiro's clenched fist. This is so stupid, I feel like an idiot, but then if this works then I guess it's worth the effort.

But all the blood, sweat, and tears he poured into embarrassing himself only went down the drain. With a great effort, Muichiro stood up and grit his teeth, ‘Don't try bribing me. There's nothing going on.’ He walked off stiffly, glancing back twice with regret, before finally running to his room and quietly shutting the door.

Yuichiro remained on the sofa with the smile frozen on his face, unsure whether or not he wanted to kill his brother or kill himself more. 

‘There— I need a solution.’

Nezuko took a long sip out of her apple juice while observing Yuichiro with wide, unblinking eyes. She remembered seeing Yuichiro wait until Muichiro had left the classroom before sneaking in and dragging her out to somewhere relatively far from the corridor that contained Taro and Ginkgo class. With interest, she sucked in the last of the juice, then asked, ‘So, you came to me?’

Yuichiro tapped his finger on his crossed arms. ‘Obviously. Didn't you and your brother and your little friend group meet up with Muichiro after school?’

‘Yeah… I was supposed to. But I didn't. I had something to deal with right before we went to hang out, so I couldn't go.’ Nezuko brightened. ‘ Why don't you go ask Onii-chan instead? I think he would know.’

Yeah, go ask him, and he’s going to yap my damn ear off before he gets to anything even remotely useful. Also, his face is unbearable. Yuichiro had to bite back his sarcastic remark. Instead, he said slowly, pronouncing every word with a heavy tone, ‘I don't want to talk to your brother.’

Besides, out of all of Muichiro's friends, Kamado Nezuko and Shinazugawa Genya were the ones that Yuichiro found easiest to talk to. If he were to approach any of them about his brother, it would be those two.

Strangely, Nezuko's eyes crinkled into crescents, and she let out a small giggle. ‘Okay, okay. Don't get upset.’

‘I’m not upset.’ Yuichiro tried to hide his pout. He failed miserably.

Nezuko rolled her eyes cheekily, as if saying, “Sure you're not.” She thought for a moment before suggesting, ‘How about talking to Zenitsu-san instead? He was there.’

Although this seemed like a good idea, Yuichiro felt more hesitant than he liked. Both he and Agatsuma Zenitsu were part of the disciplinary committee, but they rarely interacted. If anything, Yuichiro could only remember getting reasonably annoyed by that guy's screaming and yelling. That time Kamado Tanjiro dragged his group of friends over to his house for Genya’s tutoring only solidified his dislike for the trio he enjoyed dubbing “the three blind mice”. He had consciously avoided Zenitsu from that point onwards. Refusing to talk during disciplinary committee meetings, maintaining at least a two-seat distance between them, and even utilising what influence he had on people to be carrier pigeons instead of directly talking— Yuichiro was adept at conjuring up elaborate ways to completely avoid someone. 

However, a lead was a lead. Yuichiro had to suck up his own annoyance if he wanted to find out what was bothering Muichiro.

‘Yeah, all right.’

Agatsuma Zenitsu squinted at Yuichiro with a certain mixture between unease and fear. Yuichiro returned the look with a sharp glare.

‘Tokito-san—’

‘Finally, someone got it.’

‘Oh, wait, you're Yuichiro-san.’

‘God damnit.’

The two were locked in another awkward stalemate, before Zenitsu cleared his throat. ‘Yuichiro-san, why did you have to call me out here? Break’s almost over.’

Yuichiro huffed and crossed his arms, trying his best to look intimidating. ‘Fine, I'll get straight to the point. Ask for details later. Do you know what happened with Muichiro yesterday?’

Zenitsu’s face shifted to a quiet understanding. He nodded thoughtfully, ‘Oh, yeah, we did meet up yesterday. Tokito-kun, huh?’ Then, strangely, he averted his eyes, seemingly out of a mixture between concern and anxiousness, as a nervous grin grew on his face. ‘Tokito-kun… huh…?’

Yuichiro couldn’t help but be ticked off by this expression. What did he even do to enact such a reaction? What did Muichiro do to create such a response?

The bottom of his stomach suddenly dropped. What if… what if the situation was worse than I thought…?! 

Just as Yuichiro raised one hand, Zenitsu yelped, jumped, and held up both hands defensively. ‘What’s the matter with you?’ He scrunched up his face in disdain.

‘Hey! Don’t look at me like that!’ Zenitsu’s hair puffed up like a dandelion. ‘Don’t raise your hand, either! Jeez, I thought you were going to hit me, or something.’

‘I wasn’t going to do anything. What made you come to that conclusion?’ asked Yuichiro incredulously, before he felt something click within his mind. He immediately lowered his voice and continued rigidly, ‘ If you’re having issues at home, you can speak to—’

‘No, no, it’s nothing like that.’ His tone was so serious that Yuichiro nearly gasped from being taken aback.

Just when Zenitsu was about to elaborate, the school bell rang. Yuichiro turned away with a muttered goodbye and began to rush back to class while tugging at one of his hair strands. He felt like he had just lost the chance to grip on a kite’s string that only floated further away with every second. 

Was the world against him? Had he committed a grave sin? Yuichiro racked his brains and carefully combed through his memories. He had done plenty of bad things, in his opinion, so was this a way his bad karma had stacked up against him?

‘Yuichiro-san!’ called Zenitsu from the other end of the hallway. Even though Yuichiro was in a hurry to return to class lest he get reprimanded, there were still a decent amount of students still lingering in the halls, so he figured he could spare just a few seconds to hear that guy out. He turned around, nodding sharply.

‘For Tokito-kun’s thing—’

Yuichiro stretched out his hand towards the string…

‘—you should ask Tsuyuri-san!’

…and grabbed one of those strange grabber tools instead???

He stood, frozen in place, as Zenitsu smiled like a complete idiot before disappearing into his classroom. That was Yuichiro’s signal to bolt back to his own class. Luckily, when he snuck into class through the back door, the teacher for the next period hadn’t arrived yet. His classmates were still not settled in their places, so no one noticed that he was a minute late to class.

With a small sigh of relief, Yuichiro sat in his seat and took out the books he would need for Literature class. After taking note that he had everything neatly sorted, he turned to the imaginary grabber in his hand. A tool with an ergonomic handle, a spring-activated trigger, and a rubberized jaw. It was useful to assist the elderly and those with mobility issues. The device was akin to an extended arm.

Yuichiro had no need for such a thing.

His fingers twitched. In a small fit of anger, he swung his arm and threw the imaginary grabber in his hand at the board, just as the teacher went inside the classroom. Amidst the chaos of Ginkgo class’s hurry to settle down, Yuichiro grumbled incessantly to himself.

Stop sending me on a wild goose chase! I’m not Sherlock fucking Holmes, for god’s sake!

No matter how much he tried to psych himself up, Yuichiro was still pacing outside Violet class. Time was running out, but he couldn’t shake off the awkwardness of sticking his head into a classroom to call someone out. Yuichiro glanced up from the floor to see Kanao still diligently writing while in her seat.

I don't even know her that well, what reason do I have to interrupt her work?!

He fiddled with the disciplinary committee band on his arm. Could he just use the excuse that there was something the committee needed to call Kanao out? Would that be considered an abuse of authority?

But I’m in the middle school sector! Why the hell would I have business with a high schooler?! He could almost rip his hair out from frustration.

‘Oh? Tokito-san, what are you doing here?’ rang out a voice. Yuichiro nearly lit up. It was a voice he recognised.

‘Kanzaki-san,’ muttered Yuichiro, before standing up straight and clearing his throat to try and come off prim and proper. ‘Could you help me call Tsuyuri-san outside?’

Aoi tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. ‘Why couldn’t you ask her yourself?

‘I— well—’ he could feel his composure slipping away as he fumbled to think of an answer. Fortunately, Aoi didn’t press him for an answer.

‘That’s fine. Just wait a moment, I’ll go get her.’

Yuichiro let out a sigh of relief as he watched Aoi disappear into Violet class. Internally, he reprimanded himself for his hesitance. Can't even say “Hey, Tsuyuri, could you come here really quickly? I have something to discuss.” What else can you do in life, then?! It's just talking to someone you don't even know that well… and that you're a little intimidated by… and…

‘Tokito-san, I heard you needed something from me?’ inquired Tsuyuri Kanao in a quiet voice. 

‘Oh, right. Um…’ Yuichiro teetered between thanking Kanao for sparing her time and asking about Muichiro. ‘Thanks for coming out here. Hey, you met Muichiro yesterday, right? Could you tell me what happened?’

Kanao's wide eyes became slightly wider as she covered her mouth politely in pondering. Before long, she whispered for Yuichiro to follow her to the window outside the classroom, and both of them seemed to hide outside in order to look in.

She pointed at a corner of the room. ‘Tokito-san, do you recognise those three?’

Yuichiro stared for a moment, then nodded, then swallowed nothing. ‘Yeah.’ He recognised them— they were the trio that he had reprimanded a day or two ago. However, it was curious how he had taken much longer than usual to realise their identities.

After all, bandages of all shapes and sizes seemed to cover each of their faces. The two guys, especially, resembled poorly-wrapped mummies.

With relief— he felt these thoughts had a certain inappropriate timing—Yuichiro was slightly glad that those three wore their uniforms properly.

‘What happened to them?’ he questioned, glancing at the senior beside him.

Kanao's expression darkened for a split moment, before she returned to her usual disposition. ‘I’m not sure. However, I think your brother knows something about that.’

With his mouth hanging open, Yuichiro stepped backwards and blinked incredulously. ‘What do you mean, you're “not sure”? You were there, weren't you? With— with Kamado and whatnot.’

Kanao faced him directly, concern showing through her furrowed eyebrows. ‘Yes. But, when we asked Tokito-san about what had happened, he didn't want to tell us. We didn't want to press the issue either, because he seemed extremely upset.’

Yuichiro could hear the bell ring, but it seemed to be ringing from a long distance away. 

Though the hall was filled with the chattering of students, Kanao's serious voice still managed to reach him. She stood near the door to her classroom and said, ‘If… you talk to him, please be patient with him.’

Then, she disappeared into the classroom.

Yuichiro's eyes followed the numbers on the board, his hand wrote what he saw, but his mind was in a completely different world. He couldn't help but replay every little detail that he saw on Muichiro yesterday, and compare those with what information he had recently gathered.

Hair that stuck up… A smudge too red to be blush… Stiff posture… And that face, especially that expression that now made chills go down his spine… 

The pen he was holding tapped rapidly on the table from how much his hand shook.

Bandages on the seniors… Now that he looked closer at the situation, didn't they also have a bruise or two peeking out, too…?!

Yuichiro felt his head spin, and the arm that was holding up his face slipped slightly. Half of his mind wanted to stop thinking and to return to reality, to focus in class. The other half of his mind only kept spiralling, and easily overtook the more rational mind.

What if… Yuichiro bit his tongue to try and calm himself. 

What if Muichiro was being bullied?!

As he slowly became conscious of the dreadful thought, Yuichiro began to grow furious. He bit down on the inside of his mouth as a way of grounding himself. 

This was not the first time that Muichiro had been bullied. There were previous occurrences, where he found out that Muichiro had some scuffles with others in school. Even though he could count the number of fights on his fingers, Yuichiro was horrified and almost sick with worry whenever it happened. 

He had always understood that Muichiro was rather air-headed, and that it may cause some people to take advantage of his lack of attention. They probably thought that he wouldn't say anything and just endure the bullying. But when Muichiro fought back, those bullies had the audacity to say that Muichiro had attacked them first! Who would believe such a blatant, underhanded lie? Yuichiro would always shut those words down with no hesitation. 

There was no way Muichiro would start a fight. He was too good for that. In fact, Yuichiro even pitied him to some extent because of his kind-heartedness.

However, there was a difference between the previous fights and the one he was dealing with at the moment. Before, Muichiro clearly showed pain and would pitifully seek comfort— which Yuichiro readily provided, of course. But, now, Muichiro was hiding things and insisting that he was all right. It was completely unlike him.                                                                                     

What if…! Yuichiro's heart rate spiked to a million beats per minute. What if Muichiro was being threatened into staying silent?! What had those three done to him?!

Yuichiro bit the top part of his pen, now positively seething. He swore to make them pay for what crimes they had committed. First, they paraded around the school with a sloppy uniform, and now, they dared to hurt his little brother?! Who cared about morals anymore? He was ready to dig up all of the darkest secrets of those three and display them all over the school so that they may be socially ostracised— a befitting punishment for such chatterboxes. Then, he would force them to kneel and apologise to Muichiro, no matter what threats or schemes he had to use. After that—

‘Tokito-san, what's the answer?’

The question failed to fully snap Yuichiro out of his tangent. He pulled his hand away from his chin— which was tangled in his hair, so it yanked his entire head forward, too. After quickly detangling himself, he glanced at the board and could only register one thing.

‘...20?’ he said, tentatively.

‘This… this is English class.’

Yuichiro merely blinked in response. Goto shook his head warily, before squinting at Yuichiro. ‘Tokito-san, you look a little pale. Would you like to go to the restroom for a moment?’

An exit had conveniently opened up. Maybe the world didn't hate him as much as he thought. Yuichiro wasted no time in thanking Goto before rushing out of the classroom.

Yuichiro stared at the drop of water rolling down the side of his face. It was strange for him to linger this much outside of class. He slowly let out a breath before standing up and gently slapping both of his cheeks.

‘Okay. Get yourself together.’ 

He left the restroom with a slightly lighter heart and a considerably clearer mind. Just as Yuichiro was ready to return to class, a leg suddenly planted itself against the wall and completely blocked his escape into the main hallway. Yuichiro's heart stopped. He turned to the wall to see one of the three faces that he had already etched with hatred in his mind.

But, before he could fire out any of the insults he had prepared, the senior in front of him had already gained the upper hand.

‘Control your goddamn brother.’ he growled, closing the distance between them by punching the wall, setting his fist just beside Yuichiro's head.

There were many things Yuichiro wanted to say. 

Watch your mouth! Don’t talk about Muichiro like that!

Control my brother? Why don’t you control your attitude first!

Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?!

Yet, he only tilted his head backwards to try and look the senior directly in the eye. ‘Who are you?’

Yuichiro held in his mirth at seeing the older boy's face contort even further. The senior grunted, ‘Okazaki. Okazaki Kei.’

‘Oh. I nearly wrote you up for your uniform yesterday, didn't I?’ 

Oddly, this seemed to irritate the senior even more. ‘Yeah! That's right! You— it's your fault that I got beat up!’

‘What are you talking about?’ Initially, Yuichiro was playing dumb to attempt to get the senior to spill the beans himself. Now, he genuinely had no idea what this “Okazaki” was going on about. ‘You picked on—’

‘We didn’t do jack shit!’ He jabbed a finger at the bandage covering the spine of his nose. ‘My friends and I were just talking, then your stupid brother came outta nowhere and swung at me!’

‘Watch your fucking mouth,’ seethed Yuichiro. He glared sharply at Okazaki, whose eyes grew wide with uneasiness. ‘Just because I'm sparing my time to listen to whatever bullshit you've come up with doesn't mean you get to talk shit about my younger brother. Choose your next words carefully.’

Okazaki clicked his tongue. Gritting his teeth, he took a small step back, setting both of his legs onto the ground. Without the towering presence taking up his personal space, Yuichiro let out a small breath that he had been holding in. He straightened up and crossed his arms, not noticing that he had gripped onto his uniform. It’d probably be creased for the rest of its life now.

‘Motherfuck— ugh…’ Okazaki spoke while running his hands through his hair, but was quickly interrupted by a hiss of pain that emitted from his own mouth. Ultimately, he stuffed both hands into his pockets. ‘You people…’

Yuichiro only tilted his head towards the hallway and narrowed his eyes as if to say, “Are you going to get on with it?”

‘...You listen closely and don't interrupt me. Yesterday, me and the other two hung around after school. We're allowed to, aren’t we? So, we were just sitting at the back of the school and talking about a bunch of shit, when your brother came from— I don't know, behind a wall or something— and he beat our asses up without question! Then, he just up and left like that!’

‘Uh huh.’ Yuichiro managed to pull out a few strands of hair from the creases in his uniform. As he roughly tugged at them, he dwelled on the story that was presented to him.

He still strongly believed that Muichiro was not a person to attack someone else without reason. To his knowledge, Muichiro was rather placid and easygoing— much more than a number of people he knew. Therefore, logically, this story should not make any sense.

However… That guy's expression was real. That… that doesn’t make it seem like a lie. Am I missing something?

Yuichiro let out a haggard sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘Are you really telling the truth?’

‘Of. Fucking. Course. I. Am!’ Okazaki's nostrils were flared like a bull's. Even his face had grown so red that he almost looked like a bull. ‘Did you think the bandages on me are fake?!’

‘I never said—’

He shoved a part of his arm in Yuichiro's face. ‘Open your eyes! It’s real!’

Yuichiro gingerly pushed Okazaki's arm away, pressing directly on the purplish bruise, which made Okazaki grunt and flinch slightly.

They both stared at the blemish in silence. Yuichiro's face contorted between disbelief and uneasiness, while Okazaki's smugness showed through his grimace.

‘Believe me now? Do you want me to drag those two out to show you their wounds, too?’

‘No, no need.’ Yuichiro pursed his lips together. There must be something I'm missing, there must be something I'm missing… ‘I just can't imagine him doing something so reckless… Did you do anything to Muichiro before that? Did you say anything weird?’ 

At these words, Okazaki's eyes widened for a split second before he returned to his previous expression. ‘No.’

Yuichiro could almost punch this bastard himself. He allowed more of his anger to flood through, ‘You want to hide things, huh? Yeah, keep trying to hide things. I have no idea how the teachers haven't caught wind of this, and I honestly don't give a damn if they do or not. Because I'm going to make sure they get to the bottom of this whole fiasco, and I'm going to make it damn fucking sure you three never see the light of day again.’
Okazaki took another step back with his mouth agape. ‘What—’

‘What the hell did you say yesterday afternoon? Spit it out!’ 

The two held each other’s glares for a short moment, before Okazaki ultimately broke the tension. ‘Argh, fine! We were shit-talking you, happy?!’

Yuichiro froze. ‘You were— what?’ Though the news slightly surprised him at first, he calmed down in mere milliseconds. Of course, he knew that, as part of the disciplinary committee, he would garner both respect and animosity from the student body. Getting his thighs hugged and having furious looks directed at him in the same hour was not an uncommon occurrence. At the start, he was uncomfortable with every attempt of currying favour with him, and unnerved by every whisper that was accompanied with a dissatisfied look. After around two months, Yuichiro had trained himself to stop caring about what other students said or thought about him. Constantly repeating “ignore them” and letting the words completely take over his mind whenever something came up had proved to be extremely useful.

But, now, he had to face part of the situation directly. No, but it makes sense. I told them something they didn’t like, so they vented their feelings about me to each other. That's whatever, it's their choice. Then, what does that have to do with…

Realisation dawned on Yuichiro as if lighting had struck him dead in the heart. His lips parted, and his entire body relaxed a little more than before.

‘What— you gonna cry?’ snickered Okazaki, his anger temporarily replaced with a certain glee. ‘Holy shit, is Tokito Yuichiro actually gonna—’

‘Did my brother also rip your eyes out when he beat your sorry ass?’ deadpanned Yuichiro, which effectively shut Okazaki up. He sized up the person before him while gathering the words in his head. After taking a deep breath, he spoke in a horrifyingly authoritative tone, without a single stutter, or stammer.

‘Look, I don’t give a fuck about what you say about me. Do whatever you want, words can't kill me anyway. However, you did provide me with crucial information. For that, I thank you. In return, I won't report this to the teachers.’

Okazaki's expression changed rapidly throughout the short speech. He scoffed, then raised his eyebrows, then grinned, eyes sparkling. ‘You really know how to talk, huh?’

‘Don't get cocky. This isn't for your benefit, it's for mine.’ He finally let go of the strand of hair he had been tugging on throughout the whole conversation. It tensed miserably from the abuse. ‘At least, now I have a better idea about this whole situation. If the teachers ask what happened, then—’

‘We took care of that already. Told ‘em it was an infight.’ Suddenly, the upperclassman seemed just ever so slightly more reliable.

‘Okay, then—’ The bell rang, as loud as thunder, and Yuichiro jolted violently. The knee-jerk reaction initially confused him, before Yuichiro pieced together the connection between the meaning of the bell and his position outside a classroom. Did I… did I just skip class?! What? What! What the actual hell is wrong with me! Why didn't I check the time? Why did I get swept up into this? Ah, Tokito Yuichiro, you absolute idiot!

When he had finished panicking, Okazaki had already left. Yuichiro dashed back to his class in hopes that he could catch up with Goto to apologise. Yet, when he reached the class door, doubled over and panting as if he had run a marathon, there was no English teacher to be seen amidst the chatting Ginkgo class members. With his fingers digging into his palm, Yuichiro dragged himself back to his seat and slumped his head on the table.

‘Look who's back,’ said Yushiro, leisurely leaning back in the seat in front. Then, after squinting at Yuichiro, his eyes grew slightly wide as he righted his chair and fully spun around. ‘Did you puke or something? You look even worse than before.’

Still out of breath, Yuichiro was unable to answer. He could only shift his head and frown in response. 

‘Huh? Are you sure, Yushiro-kun?’ Takeuchi shuffled over to both of them, bringing his lunch with him.

‘Obviously. Take a look at that face.’ 

After dragging a chair over to sit, Takeuchi furrowed his brows as he looked at his exhausted friend. ‘Oh, yeah, I kinda see it…’ He beamed, and opened his lunchbox. A large portion of spaghetti and chicken katsu greeted him. ‘That’s fine, if you eat, you’ll feel better, Yuichiro-kun!’ 

The smell of food was suddenly overwhelming. Yuichiro sat up straight and covered his mouth while turning away, in fear Yushiro's words would actually come true.

‘Yeah, you definitely have something going on,’ concluded Yushiro with a reprimanding air. ‘Go to Tamayo-sensei.’

‘It’s not that bad.’ Having regained his strength, Yuichiro slowly pulled out his own bento from his bag, stopping as he weighed the box in his hand. He didn't put much food in today. It was just rice and some Korean ground beef that was left over after dinner. Why did it feel so heavy?

I’m actually going to throw up if I eat. 

‘I'm going to go and apologise to Goto-sensei for missing class.’ Yuichiro stood up and dropped the bento in front of Takeuchi, who was busy slurping up spaghetti. ‘You can have that. You’ve always wanted to try my cooking, right? Have at it.’

While Takeuchi tried to gulp down the rest of his noodles to free his mouth, Yushiro spoke for him. He called to Yuichiro's already retreating back. ‘Hey! Don’t skip meals if you’re sick, dumbass!’

‘I’m not sick. You’re the dumbass.’ Yuichiro clicked his tongue sharply. ‘Are your eyes not working properly?’

Yushiro hissed while shaking his fist. The sound which emitted from his throat sounded oddly like a snake.

Having finally swallowed his spaghetti with a gasp, Takeuchi blurted, ‘Wait! What about Muichi—’

Yuichiro made sure to slam the classroom door hard when he left— enough to shut Takeuchi up, but not enough to cause any damage.

As he walked to the teacher's office, Yuichiro tried to come up with a plausible excuse to explain why he had taken at least 15 minutes to go to the restroom. 

Yet, no matter how hard he tried to steer his mind towards his main goal, Yuichiro was unable to stop thinking about what had gone down between his younger brother and those seniors.

He probably hit them because he overheard them insulting me. The thought came to him naturally, with a quiet tone of defeat. A pit began to grow in his stomach. Yuichiro bit his lip to try and quell the sudden onset of emotions, mainly a sense of agitation.

He was fully aware that this wasn't the first time Muichiro had done something like that.

Tokito Yuichiro, five-years-old, calmly sat in a corner of his kindergarten classroom to read. The deafening screams outside slightly startled him as he turned a page in his book. But nevermind that. He just couldn't be bothered to get up and play with the other kids. Yuichiro was trying to be more grown-up, and grown ups don't play, they study! Anyway, this book on planets was infinitely more interesting than anything his classmates could come up with. He was especially interested in it because it was something his father had just gifted to him after he had just returned from a day trip to another province.

Beside him sat Muichiro, serenely watching the clouds through a window. Initially, Yuichiro had tried to shoo his little brother away, but the latter suddenly became as sticky as mochi. So, he had no choice but to reluctantly allow Muichiro to stay where he wanted to. Strangely, there was a little part inside of him that felt quite happy.

‘Yuichiro-kun! Whatcha doing?’ bellowed a snotty-nosed kid, running up to him with a yellow ball in his arms.

‘Reading, can't you see?’ Having just been disrupted in the middle of reading a particularly difficult-to-understand sentence, Yuichiro did nothing to hide his irritation. ‘And don’t call me Yuichiro!’ That was what children call each other. He's trying to be more grown-up, so others should call him by his family name instead!

‘Huh? But that's your name!’ The kid held out the ball. ‘Stop reading, we need more people. Come play!’

‘Ugh, no!’ With a pout that made his cheeks puff up like a hamster, Yuichiro resolutely turned back to his book. 

Yet, just as Yuichiro's eyes read past only a few words, something rubbery hit the side of his head with such force that it made him lurch sideways and drop his book. A yellow ball innocently bounced across the floor.

‘Ow!’

Muichiro hurriedly turned to him. ‘Nii-san, are you okay?’

‘I told you, stop reading!’

‘What are you—?!’ began Muichiro, already getting up, but Yuichiro pushed him down while standing up straight himself.

‘Stay there.’ He said resolutely, before straightening his posture to size up the newcomer. The two boys glared at each other, electricity seemingly crackling in the air. Yuichiro just couldn't understand it! Why would this idiot, who had more friends than him, keep pestering him when they both didn’t know each other that well? It was… it was ridiculous!

Ultimately, he decided that, since he was more grown-up, he wouldn't pick a fight with his classmate. Also, he was too tired to do anything but sit in one spot. Huffing childishly, Yuichiro bent down to pick up his fallen book when it was snatched out of his reach at lightning speed. He blinked once, twice, then his hair frizzled up like a furious cat's fur. 

‘Give it back!’ Yuichiro tried to grab at the other boy, but the idiot easily dodged his grabs while holding his book up high. And, as he saw Muichiro get up out of the corner of his eye, he added, ‘Muichiro, don't move!’

He had to deal with this himself and not rope his younger brother in— since that was the duty of an older brother, after all!

‘Play with us!’ repeated the child as if he were a broken toy. Since he was a whole head taller than Yuichiro, it cost him no effort to hold the book high above his head. ‘I'll give it back after!’

How infuriating! How childish! These kids did not know how to mind their own business! 

The boy laughed, waving the book as if he were waving a flag. ‘You can't get me! Shorty!’

‘Shorty?!’ fumed Yuichiro, as his hands balled into fists. ‘Don't—!’

Another voice chimed in, ‘Are you done?’ It was another child, followed by another, both were friends with the boy.

‘Yuichiro doesn't wanna go!’ shouted the bully back, and held the book even higher.

‘Reading again? So boring.’ lamented one child, and Yuichiro instantly registered that face with hatred in his heart.

‘Nerd!’ cackled another, and he, too, instantly went into Yuichiro's mental blacklist.

Never in five years of living had Yuichiro felt so frustrated. How utterly unfair! He was just reading peacefully in his own little bubble, why did these kids have to pop the serenity so roughly and crudely, and with a ridiculous reason, too? These big, burly boys had the nerve to pick on someone smaller than them! Bullies, the lot of them! 

‘No!’ He continued to grab at the book with futile efforts. ‘Give—! It—! Ah—!’

A loud smack reverberated through the air as Yuichiro hissed and rubbed the top of his head. Tears began to form in his eyes from the intense pain, but he blinked rapidly to clear them. It turned out the boy had hit him with his! own! book! There was truly nothing more despicable than this!

Yuichiro glanced around the rowdy classroom. There were no teachers in sight, and the other kids that were present were busy playing around with their own toys. Can’t they see that someone is being ruthlessly bullied right in front of their eyes?! Have their parents never taught them to help someone in need?!

He prepared to tackle the boy in front of him, but hesitated at the sight of the book, now being held by only a few pages, leaving the rest of the book flopping around dangerously. If he wasn't careful, it could easily rip, then…

Papa…! What would he do when he went home? Yuichiro understood enough to know that it would be terribly unfilial if he had just broken a new gift from his father. He could almost imagine his father's reaction: a reassuring smile, comforting words, but a slight disappointment, or sadness, would be seen in the depths of those red eyes. At this point, alarm bells rang in his mind. That must absolutely not happen! What kind of child was he if he couldn’t keep a simple book safe?

But… he really couldn't protect it. Distress and fear began to overwhelm both his heart and mind. As a young child, Yuichiro was still struggling to efficiently suppress his negative emotions. Without warning, his nose sniffed, the corners of his mouth turned down, his eyebrows creased, and a tear had streamed down his right cheek. Alongside this, Yuichiro realised with a jolt that everyone in the class had their eyes on the situation. Equally terrified and embarrassed, Yuichiro quickly bowed his head so that his bangs would cover his face.

‘Give my book back. Leave me be.’ Although he tried to keep his voice steady, it was choked and shaky. At this horrifying realisation, Yuichiro bit his lips and tried to stop his shoulders from trembling. One tear fell onto the floor.

The three boys were astonished at this progression of events. Then, the one holding Yuichiro's book let out a short guffaw— before it cut into a scream of pain— and he fell right onto his back. A yellow rubber ball bounced onto the ground, then flew towards the ceiling, before gently rolling to the opposite corner.

Judging by the trajectory of the ball, it had come from behind Yuichiro. Slowly, he turned around, and came face to face with an infuriated Muichiro.

‘Mu…i…’ Torn between shock and the act of holding back his tears, words could not come to little Yuichiro.

In an instant, Muichiro's face changed to resemble the crybaby that Yuichiro was so used to. ‘Nii-san!’ he fretted, rushing to pull Yuichiro back by the arm. ‘Are you okay? Did it hurt?’

Before another word could be uttered, a loud wail pierced their ears. The twins swiftly turned around to see the bully bawling his eyes out on the ground while a teacher attended to him.

She was trying to soothe him best she could. Before long, the boy calmed down, but refused to move his behind from the floor.

The teacher shook her head and sighed. She swept a look across the hushed kindergarteners before speaking: ‘All right, can someone tell me what happened?’

A young girl raised her hand, and she was picked. In a clear voice, she clumsily recounted the events that had transpired minutes ago. 

A chill ran down Yuichiro's spine as he listened to her words. Although she got the gist of the situation, there was still something she missed. Yuichiro couldn't fully pay attention to her storytelling, however— he was too busy swatting away a worried Muichiro, who was trying to touch the top of his head. To comfort him, no less.

Frankly, it was not just ridiculous, but also extremely embarrassing. If he could, he would've shouted at his little brother, “I'm fine, stop doing that!”, since only shouting would be able to get through that fretting little mind. Though, he figured that it wasn't the smartest thing to do while caught up in a small-scale brawl. Thus, Yuichiro could only try conveying his words through action. Evidently, he was unsuccessful.

‘Thank you, I understand now.’ The teacher rubbed the space between her eyebrows with a small sigh. She first turned to the bully, and reprimanded him for hitting another classmate. 

Yuichiro felt slightly wronged— the hitting was the least of his problems. That… kid tried to drag him out to do things he did not want to do! In his opinion, it was much worse than a small whack.

Then, as she finished, the teacher turned to the twins while holding out Yuichiro's book. 

‘Thank you,’ said Yuichiro quietly as he received the object with both hands. Tucking the book underneath his arm, Yuichiro quickly continued, chiming in before his teacher had a say, ‘Sensei, Muichiro didn't do anything wrong, he just—’

‘Yuichiro, let me talk, okay?’ The teacher held up a finger to her lips. ‘I just want to get the facts straight to tell your parents later.’

There it was. Just those few words were as if a bucket full of iced water had been doused on Yuichiro's small body. He swallowed, shivered, already occupied with thinking of some valid excuse for Muichiro's sudden, uncharacteristic aggression.

‘Muichiro, why did you hit Wakaba?’

In an obvious, almost defiant tone, came the reply: ‘Because he hit Nii-san!’

The teacher raised an eyebrow. ‘So, you think that just because someone hit you—’

‘He bullied Nii-san!’

‘ —or, someone close to you, that you're allowed to hit them back?’

Muichiro nodded with an air of honesty. ‘Yeah. Last time, Nii-san told me that I need to… protect what I love! I love Nii-san the most, so I’m protecting him!’

Yuichiro could feel the colour drain out of his face. He glanced at the teacher's expression— she did not wear a pretty one, either.

Is it my fault? My fault that, that, that…

‘Okay. Thank you, Muichiro.’ She let out a small, dissatisfied sigh. ‘Even then, hitting others is wrong, Muichiro. You shouldn’t have done that.’

Muichiro pouted, but nodded anyway. It was unclear whether or not the teacher’s words truly resonated with him.

Thump, thump, thump. That was the dreadful sound that filled Yuichiro's ears. His heart seemed to ram itself against his ribcage, desperate to escape the confines of the human body. The current situation was like a cloud that hung above his head, heavy with water droplets and crackling with electricity.

‘Yuichiro…’ began the teacher, speaking slowly, and with a slight reproachfulness. ‘I’m sorry you got hit over the head by your book. Does it still hurt? Do you need ice, or ointment?’

It still hurt. It throbbed terribly, and it seemed to make Yuichiro’s brain tremble. Resolutely, Yuichiro shook his head.

‘That’s good. You know, Yuichiro, Wakaba… has a point.’ She paused for a short moment to think over her words. ‘You rarely play with anyone, and you're always sitting by yourself… It'd be good to have some fun with friends, too. If you had agreed to come play with your friends, then none of this would have happened.’

They’re not my friends. They’ll never be! Yuichiro didn't reply. He could only feel the cloud beginning to rain…

‘Still, even while Muichiro was right beside you, you couldn’t manage his actions. Shouldn’t you be the one to set an example for him?’ the teacher said sternly. ‘Yuichiro, you are quite an irresponsible older brother.’

In one go, a thunderstorm exploded above Yuichiro’s head. He understood that word. It was the complete opposite of what he was meant to be, it was wrong, it was…

It's my fault.

The word echoed in his mind, relentlessly jabbing and taunting him. Irresponsible, irresponsible, irresponsible!

Without thinking, Yuichiro bowed low and clasped his hands in front of him. Their nails dug into each other with how tight his hold was.

Irresponsible.

‘I'm… I'm sorry, I'm really sorry…’ Yuichiro was trembling so much that his words came out so shaky, he could've been speaking during an earthquake.

Irresponsible.

The rest of his memories were dissolved in tears.

Yuichiro snapped out of his recollection— his phone was ringing. There’s no point thinking about what you can’t do anything about. He told himself bitterly as he stuffed his hand into his uniform’s pocket. Due to his shaking hands, it became quite laborious for Yuichiro to dig out his phone.

When he saw who was calling, he couldn't help but grimace. Yuichiro stopped walking, leant against the wall, and turned on “do not disturb”, making the call screen instantly fade away. Then, he swiped up to check if he had missed anything else. To some of his shock, numerous notifications revealed themselves, all coming from the same caller. New messages began flooding in.

[did u just decline the call???]

[i know you did something. the call ended much earlier]

[nii-san stop ignoring me :(( do you hate me :((((((]

[??where are you??? are u hiding somewhere????]

Yuichiro guiltily watched the messages pop up as he slowly returned to walking. After a short while, there was no new notification. Thinking that nothing else would come, he sighed heavily and prepared to turn off his phone for good, but a large block of text suddenly covered half his screen.

[To whoever's holding my older brother's phone, return it to him and return him to Ginkgo class in the middle school division. This is the first and last time I will be asking politely. Know that I will find you and you will pay for whatever you have done. If Yuichiro has even a single molecule out of place you'd better lock your windows carefully.]

Startled, Yuichiro did not think before he pressed on the message and opened his phone. The LINE screen popped up right as another text came in:

[nii-san if youre reading this come back i want to eat with u too and im hungry. and im sorry.]

‘You're sorry, you don't even know what you're sorry for…’ muttered Yuichiro under his breath. An even bigger wave of guilt crashed into him, but this time, it was also accompanied by panic. The newest message had a little “read” appear next to it. As a barrage of new messages entered the conversation, Yuichiro quickly shut off his phone and stuffed it inside his pocket.

Just don’t think about it. He repeated the thought over and over again, trying to drown out the little squeaks of worry that constantly surfaced. Don't think about it. Don't you dare think about it.

Before he knew it, he had reached the faculty room. The teachers must've finished lunch by now, so he carefully knocked on the sliding door.

‘Come in.’

Timidly, Yuichiro slid open the door and poked his head in. His face instantly turned into a small grimace— Goto was nowhere to be seen. 

The only teacher in the room was Kocho Kanae, who had just finished with some printing. Having stood next to the door, she smiled at the newcomer. ‘Hello, Tokito-san. What brings you here?’ 

Understanding that it was impolite to talk to a teacher, or any adult, for that matter, while standing in the middle of the door, Yuichiro fully stepped into the teacher's office.‘I wanted to find Goto-sensei.’

‘Goto-sensei? He'll be back in a bit, he's just running some quick errands.’ explained Kanae, walking back to her desk.

Yuichiro gave his thanks and bowed slightly before opening the sliding door. With a heavy heart, he decided to wait outside the room until Goto-sensei returned. On the one hand, it would be convenient for both parties to not move around so much. On the other hand… Yuichiro internally shook his head. What would people think if they saw him standing outside the teacher's room, looking suspiciously guilty?

But, before he could settle on a decision, someone had already made one for him. Alerted by the sound of quiet patting, Yuichiro turned his head to see Kanae pointing at another teacher's seat beside her desk.

‘Why don't you wait here? It'd be much cooler than the hall outside. It would also be much more convenient for you to talk to Goto-san when he returns.’

‘Oh, no, I shouldn't stay, I don't want to disturb…’ replied Yuichiro, quite abashed. Compared to merely sitting in the teacher's office in silence, he'd much rather stand outside instead. He couldn't stand the awkwardness.

Kanae chuckled, then smiled mysteriously, ‘It’s all right. I can also sense that… you have some troubles you'd like to resolve?’

Yuichiro was stunned speechless— Kanae had hit the nail right on the head. His brain began to work even more furiously to consider this offer in the most serious manner possible. It was true that the situation between Muichiro and those seniors was driving him insane. Even worse, it didn’t matter which side was right. Yuichiro, the ignorant catalyst, would end up being the one who felt the worst, in the end. He was terribly upset that Muichiro had gotten hurt— both mentally and physically, he assumed— and that Muichiro had tried to hide the fact from him. 

As he held back a dejected sigh, Yuichiro carefully sat down on the indicated chair. Due to nervousness, he bowed his head in Kanae's direction and stiffly spoke, ‘Um… Thank you for allowing me to sit here.’

Kanae laughed and waved a hand. ‘Don’t be so formal! Make yourself comfortable.’ Then, she turned to her laptop and began typing away.

Her carefree actions and natural speech stumped Yuichiro. His hand twitched nervously.

Should I take out my phone? No, that's rude. I can't be on my phone while in an adult's presence. But, she isn't paying attention to me. And she said that I could make myself “comfortable”, whatever that means. No, no, maybe not… I don't want to have to look at…. all that. I won't, then. I won't use my phone. Not until school ends, at least. That's right… Just ignore it, Yuichiro… find something else to distract yourself.

He turned his head to his left, facing the wall. Seeing nothing, he turned to the right, facing a small placard. He returned to facing Kanae, before swiveling his head to reread the name. At that moment, it felt like an anvil had just dropped on Yuichiro’s head.

‘Th— that's—’ All of a sudden, Yuichiro’s words failed to articulate. He could only stare in horror.

His odd mannerism caught Kanae's attention, though it was difficult to say whether or not she had been watching him from the start. ‘Ufufu, surprised, aren't you? Shinazugawa-sensei keeps his space quite clean, contrary to popular belief.’

That's not the point!!! Yuichiro didn't know whether he should stand up or keep sitting. ‘I'm…. I'm sitting on… Sensei's… chair…’ he mustered, growing increasingly terrified. As much as Yuichiro admired Sanemi, he wanted to avoid getting on Sanemi's bad side as much as possible. Would he throw me out of the window if he found out I sat on his chair? No— what if he walks in, sees me sitting in his space, and kills me on the spot?! I can't die yet!

As if she could read his mind, Kanae reassured him with a grin, ‘Don't worry, Tokito-kun. He wouldn’t mind.’

‘Are you sure? What if…’ Yuichiro’s voice trailed off into nothingness, and he bit his lower lip hard to refrain from speaking.

Stop pushing it. Kocho-sensei has already made it final, don’t be annoying by going on about it… Fuck, what if I do get thrown out of the window, or something? I'll just have to get away before Shinazugawa-sensei comes back. Damn, if this makes him have a bad impression of me, I might have to go to five temples to clean off my bad karma…

‘Ta da!’ 

Yuichiro, once again, snapped out of his thoughts. He blinked and pulled his head back, for a flower had appeared in front of his face, nearly touching his nose.

‘This is…’ He was still staring at the flower that Kanae seemingly pulled out of nowhere.

Kanae twirled the little daisy in her hand. ‘Those little girls in the medicine club gave me some! Here, you can have one.’

Yuichiro received the flower with a small bow. He gazed at the delicate white petals resting against his palm, and felt slightly calmer. Sneaking a quick look at Kanae, Yuichiro was suddenly reminded of Tsuyuri Kanao and Kocho Shinobu.

They’re Kocho-sensei’s younger sisters, right…?

So, Kanae was an elder sister, and she probably had to look after her younger sisters too. Maybe, he could ask for some advice?

Yuichiro quickly told himself off. Kanae was someone immensely capable and level-headed, and he could never even wish to reach her level. 

Besides, what kind of advice could he ask? Kocho-sensei, I just wanted to see how you would deal with a younger sibling fighting other people to defend your honour even though you didn’t need any defending. Yuichiro ran that sentence through his mind again and immediately threw it away. It was ridiculous! He sounded like a clueless idiot!

But, she did subtly offer to help him before, didn’t she? Kanae said that he had some problems he’d like to resolve… that was right, and she seemed like the person that could help him resolve it.

Yuichiro felt a hollow space in his chest. Currently, he was confused about many things. What was the right way to feel? He was upset that Muichiro had gotten hurt, and that he had fought someone. But he couldn’t help but feel grateful, albeit that gratefulness was tainted with immense guilt. It was wrong to feel that way, of course. He had to make up his mind.

Also, what could he do? Should he carry out his original plan of making those seniors apologise for fighting Muichiro? But as the situation stands, there was something odd about forcing them to do that. After all, they weren’t the ones that threw the first punch, as far as he knew.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to him: Gathering intel and different perspectives is necessary to carry out logical and appropriate action.

The sentence was something Yuichiro read in a book once. It seemed quite difficult and lofty to him when he read it, but he now found it incredibly useful. It had helped him make up a part of his mind.

He was just gathering intel. It would be fine, as long as he worded things in a way that didn’t directly point to anyone.

‘Kocho-sensei,’ he began, feeling the stem of the flower between his thumb and index.

‘Yes?’ Kanae’s voice was as calm as still water.

Yuichiro took a deep breath to steel his nerves.

‘Can I ask you a question?’