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It starts with a cough.
Shuuichi first notices it when he's getting dressed for school one morning. It's an awful raspy phlegmy cough that he's certain he's never heard before. He pokes his head out into the hall and stares across at his older brother's bedroom door. It sounded like it came from in there. He hesitates. Should he... go over and ask if he's okay? Would that be too awkward, or would it just annoy his new brother? Shuuichi has never seen the older boy get sick before. Maybe he doesn't like to be bothered.
He hesitates for a second longer, then just decides to pretend he never heard anything, closing his bedroom door so he can finish getting ready. The smells and sounds of breakfast being cooked are drifting up the stairs, and Shuuichi's stomach lets out a loud gurgle. Once his uniform is buttoned, he grabs his bag and races downstairs. He almost slips in his socked feet when he tries skipping over that annoying creaky step, but he manages to catch himself before he goes tumbling down the last few stairs. His stepmom, Shiori, is in the kitchen when he enters, humming to herself as she sets the table. He tells her good morning and she gives him a big smile.
He likes Shiori's smiles. He likes Shiori. She's kind and warm and he just can't help but smile back when she looks his way. She's got the kind of smile he always imagined a mom should have-- everything about her is just the way he imagined a mom ought to be. (Based on his limited knowledge of mothers he's gotten from books and movies and anime. He doesn't remember his, but he likes to think she was a lot like Shiori.) She always checks to make sure he's remembered to eat, cares enough to ask about his day, and even fuss at him a little when he forgets about his chores and homework-- but not in an annoying way. She's the best kind of person, and she loves her family.
His dad is at the table already, pouring over what looks like paperwork for his company, but he stops when Shuuichi sits down so he can talk. His dad has always made sure they have time to catch up in the mornings, since he usually works until late in the evening. He listens attentively when Shuuichi starts chattering on about the new video game one of his friends wants to show him after school today.
“Don't you have a test coming up that you need to study for?” Shiori asks as she sets the last plate of food down for their breakfast.
Shuuichi worries his lip. “Well... yea, but I can totally study for it when I get home!”
“I think it might be a better idea for you to come home straight away so you can study, don't you? You can always go and see your friend this weekend.”
The look she gives him makes it clear this isn't just a suggestion. His dad nods along, telling her that's a much better idea. “Okay,” he grumbles. He knows she's probably right (he hasn't exactly been doing all that well in his classes lately), but damn, he shouldn't have said anything. Now everyone else was going to get to play it before him. He'll be stuck here at home with his nose in his textbook while they get to spend all afternoon shooting zombies in the head.
“You know,” Shiori says, sitting down. “I bet if you asked him, Shuuichi would be happy to help you prepare for your test.”
He tries really hard not to make a face at that. Having a new mom is great-- despite the fact that she just ruined his plans for this evening-- but a new step-brother? Not so much. It wouldn't be so terrible if they didn't share the same name. Every time Shiori mentions her son, Shuuichi feels like the two of them are being compared. Older Shuuichi gets perfect grades, while he just manages to scrape by. Older Shuuichi always keeps his room clean and helps out with chores, and his room always looks like a disaster, no matter what he tries to keep it neat. Older Shuuichi is polite and friendly, and he just got in trouble for back-talking a few days ago. Shuuichi is annoyed every time the older boy is brought up.
It just-- it isn't fair. Why'd he have to get the most perfect son in the world as a step-brother? Or if he was going to be stuck with someone like that, why couldn't he have is own name, and let Shuuichi be the only Shuuichi in their family. If you asked him a year ago if he thought having an older brother would be cool, of course he'd say yes. Now that he actually has one though, he can't stand it. Who would actually like living across the hall from someone who never did anything wrong?
Soft footsteps and the creaky stair step let them know the boy in question is finally coming downstairs to join them for breakfast. Shuuichi waits for his brother's usual, cheery “Good morning, everyone!”, but it never comes. Instead, the boy falls into the seat next to him without a word, his curtain of tangled red hair slipping past his shoulders to block his face from Shuuichi's view. (Weird, why didn't he brush it this morning? He always does. Can't be a perfect son with messy hair.) Their parents go quiet. Shuuichi waits, not sure if he should say anything or not. He's only shared a home with his stepmom and stepbrother for a few months now, but there's never been a day where the older boy hasn't told them good morning.
“Uh oh,” Shiori says with a chuckle, and Shuuichi watches as an odd grin stretches across her face. She looks concerned, sure, but mostly she looks incredibly amused. “I know that face. Are you not feeling well, sweetheart?”
Shuuichi leans forward to try and catch a better look at his stepbrother's face. Past the curtain of hair he can see that the boy is pale, and a thin sheen of sweat is covering his forehead, making his bangs damp. He's got awful dark circles under his eyes and he looks-- well, angry, like he's irritated that Shiori even asked that question.
“I'm fine, Mother,” Shuuichi (the older one, not him. See what he means by annoying?) croaks. His voice sounds so raw, like his throat has been scraped red and tender. Has he been coughing all night? If so, why didn't he let their parents know before now. Shiori snorts at him and gets up from her seat to walk around the table to where her son is. She gently sweeps his sweaty bangs away from his face and lays her hand against his forehead.
“You're burning up,” she tuts. “No school for you today. Why don't you go back upstairs and get in bed. I'll bring you some tea.”
“It's just a fever. I'll be fine.” Shuuichi tries pushing his mother's hand away. She lets him, but only so she can swing the same hand up under his arm and grab him, pulling him up out of the seat.
“Bed. Now,” she orders.
Shuuichi looks like he wants to argue more, but as soon as his mother lets him go he's swaying on his feet, both hands reaching forward to brace himself against the table until what must have been a wave of dizziness passes. Shiori raises an eyebrow at him as if to say See? I'm right. Shuuichi lets out a sigh-- which turns into another nasty sounding cough-- and does as their mother says, slowly shuffling back towards the stairs, all the while grumbling under his breath. Shuuichi watches his brother leave, confused but also fighting down a laugh. He's never seen the older boy act like that before. He never would have thought Shuuichi could be anything but perfectly polite.
They finish breakfast after that. Shuuichi waits for his mom to say something about the completely out-of-character attitude his brother had had, but she never says anything. When his dad gets up to leave for work, he kisses Shiori on the check and ruffles Shuuichi's hair as he heads towards the door, telling his wife he hopes the older boy feels better soon. They say goodbye, and Shuuichi helps Shiori clear the table before leaving for school.
The school day flies by, and he knows it's because he's spent the whole day thinking about how he has to go home and study for his stupid test, instead of getting to go play video games with his friends. He says goodbye to them rather begrudgingly as he leaves school, and walks home alone. When he gets there, Shiori is already in the kitchen making dinner, humming quietly to herself as usual. It would seem like any other evening, except for the totally unexpected sound of the television coming from the living room. The TV is never turned on at this time of day. His brother barely watches it and their parents have a strict rule about Shuuichi not using it until after dinner and his homework is done. He peeks into the living room. Same shelves and knickknacks and ridiculous amount of houseplants (in his opinion, at least.). The only thing out of place is the giant squashy mound of blankets on the couch. There's a head sticking out, with red hair like a bird's nest. The blanket mound lets out a horrible rattling cough, so loud it completely covers the noise of the nature documentary playing on the TV. Shuuichi winces.
“You sound like crap,” he tells his brother as he walks farther into the room. The older boy only turns his head to glare at him. (Almost comically slow, Shuuichi nearly snorts with laughter watching him.) The look surprises him a little. There isn't much heat behind it, and he thinks that's only because his brother is too tired to put in the effort, but he can read the message of “don't start, I'm not in the mood to screw around” loud and clear.
“Oh, Shuuichi, I didn't hear you come in. How was school, dear?” he hears Shiori ask as she comes into the room.
“Fine,” he answers, still watching the older boy. His brother's gaze has moved to their mom, and Shuuichi watches him narrow his tired, angry eyes at the small brown bottle in her hand.
“I don't need any more medicine, Mother,” he croaks.
“Yes, you do,” Shiori states, in a tone that he knows means it would be stupid to argue.
Shuuichi's face twists into a sneer though. “I don't want it.” The boy's voice is acidic, and would be frighteningly impressive, if that statement wasn't immediately followed by a horrible fit of coughing.
“Too bad,” Shiori says simply, and she thrusts a capful of thick syrupy medicine towards her son's face. For a moment, Shuuichi thinks his brother is going to refuse, he even gets this wild impression that he's about to just smack the little plastic cap away, but then the blanket mound moves and a pale hand reaches out to take it. Shuuichi grumbles something under his breath and then knocks the medicine back, pulling a disgusted face when he's done.
“See? That wasn't so bad, was it?” Shiori teases.
Shuuichi almost flinches at the glare his brother levels at their mother. He's never seen the boy look so... cold, before. Shiori, to her credit, takes it all in stride. She smiles at her son, actually, and gently brushes his bangs away from his sweaty forehead.
“You're adorable when you're sick, sweetheart.” she says with a soft chuckle. “It reminds me of when you were a little boy.”
Somehow, his brother manages to glare even harder. It's like he's mustering up all his strength to silently tell their mom to “Back. Off.” Shuuichi wonders where there mom got her idea of “adorable” from, because it certainly isn't the word he would use to describe his brother right now. And what did she mean by him reminding her of when he was little? Shuuichi doesn't think any part of how his brother is acting could be similar to how he behaved as a child, unless his brother often went around looking like he wanted to commit mass-murder at just five years old.
Shiori promises to bring her son some tea, and then asks Shuuichi to let his brother get some rest. He goes upstairs to his room to work on his homework until dinner is ready. By the time he comes back down over an hour later, the older boy is passed out on the couch, gently snoring. Shuuichi lets out a soft snort. Seems like the medicine Shiori insisted on knocked him out.
Shuuichi is expecting things to be back to normal by morning, but instead, they're even worse. Some time during the night, the older Shuuichi started throwing up, and Shuuichi had woken up several times at the sound of their mom fussing over her son. When he leaves his room in the morning, he finds her softly closing his brother's bedroom door, all amusement at her grumpy, sick child gone. The only thing Shuuichi sees on her face now is worry.
“Shouldn't we take him to the doctor?” he asks.
Shiori looks at him, her mouth tilting up into a sad smile as she reaches out to smooth his hair. “Not yet. You're big brother... doesn't like doctors. Hates them, actually, I think.”
“Why? He probably needs one.”
Shiori looks at her son's bedroom door. Her shoulders droop, like she's suddenly been burdened with a heavy weight. “It's my fault. He's never liked them, but he wouldn't fight me quite so much on it when he was a child. After all that time I had to spend in the hospital a year ago, though, he adamantly refuses to go near one.” She sighs. “I shouldn't have left him to deal with my illness all on his own. If he gets much worse, I'll put my foot down and take him to the doctor, but until then, I think we better not cross that bridge.”
“Wouldn't it be worse to wait?” Shuuichi asks.
Shiori turns to him, and reaches over to straighten the collar of his uniform. “Maybe, but your brother... well, let's just say he can be awfully cunning sometimes. If he has the strength to argue with me, he'll find some way out of going to the doctor. Trust me. If he gets to the point where he won't put up a fight, then we know it's serious enough for a hospital visit.”
“If you say so, Mom,” Shuuichi says with a nod. He doesn't really understand, but maybe its just something only moms get. Or, something only Shiori does. Shuuichi has the feeling their aren't too many boys out there like his brother. Except... he thinks maybe he can imagine how his brother feels. He didn't know Shiori when she was in the hospital. His dad would visit her all the time, but he thought it'd be better for Shuuichi to meet her once she was well again. He can picture what she might have looked like in one of those hospital rooms, though: sterile white walls, constant beeping machines, and his mom looking small and frail in her hospital bed, hair lank and skin so pale it's almost translucent. It must have been awful, going to see her like that, when normally she's kind and energetic, always moving around or doing something for someone else. Then, to come home to an empty house, to have to eat alone at the table or leave the TV in the living room on just so there's some other noise besides the ticking of the clock on the wall and his own shuffled footsteps-- it would have been hell, Shuuichi thinks. He'll never understand how his brother did it for so long, but he can imagine how it turned what was probably a childhood fear of doctors into an absolute blinding hate of them. If he were in his brother's shoes, he'd probably refuse to go too.
He follows Shiori downstairs for breakfast. His father is already at the table, like normal. He asks how Shuuichi is-- the older one-- and gives a sympathetic wince when their mom says he's gotten worse. He offers to drive him to the doctor, but Shiori refuses, saying he just needs more rest. After his dad leaves for work, and as he's grabbing his bag and slipping on his shoes, his mom comes up to him and says, “I've got to run to the store on my way home from work, to pick up a few things for Shuuichi. Can you try to be as quiet as possible when you get home? I'm sure he'll still be resting, and you know how light of a sleeper he is.”
“You're not staying home with him today?”
Shiori lets out an exasperated huff. “I told him I would, but your brother wouldn't hear it. He said he's fine to take care of himself. I'm going to try to leave early today anyway, but in case I can't, I want to make sure things are as quiet for him as possible. Hopefully, he'll just sleep the entire time I'm gone.”
“Well, okay. I promise I'll be quiet.”
School goes the same as it always does, though his mind does wander a few times to his brother at home. He hopes he's okay in the house all by himself. His friends ask him to hang out after school, and for a moment he considers it. Shiori will probably to too busy with his brother to worry about if he's home studying for his test or not, and he still wants to try out that game. In the end though, he says no. He might get in trouble for not doing as his parents asked, but mostly he's worried about his brother. What if their mom couldn't leave early, and he needs help with something? Annoying or not, Shuuichi still cares about him.
The house is silent when he arrives home. There's no sign of his mom in the kitchen, and his brother isn't camped out in the living room like he was yesterday. Shuuichi climbs the stairs as quietly as possible, making sure to skip the squeaky stair step. He knows from experience that even as small a noise as that will catch his brother's attention, whether he's asleep or not. Once he's in his bedroom he sets his schoolbag down onto his desk. He changes out of his uniform, and then reaches to start pulling out the books he'll need for his homework when he stops. He should probably check on Shuuichi first, right? That would be the right thing to do. He's sure the older boy can take his medicine and stuff on his own, but maybe he'll need Shuuichi to get some tea or water or something for him.
He leaves his room, tip-toeing across the hall to his brother's bedroom door. He's expecting to hear snoring or coughing or, worse case scenario, vomiting coming from behind the door, but instead he hears voices.
“Stupid human bodies and their susceptibility to illnesses.” Even though it's hoarse and weak, he can easily recognize his brother's voice.
“Hn. Do you need anything else?” That one he's never heard before.
“Really? No comment about my inferior immune system?”
“Maybe when you're well again. Your temper is as bad as mine when you're ill. I don't much feel like risking bodily harm just for a joke. Now, drink your foul-smelling tea.”
There's a sound somewhere between a cough and a laugh. “Thank you for bringing it, Hiei. I'm sure it wasn't easy to get away. I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble.”
“Don't be ridiculous, fox. You know I don't give a damn about who I inconvenience. You needed me, so I came.”
There's a pause. Even with a voice raspy and raw from illness, Shuuichi can tell his brother is smiling when he says, “still, I appreciate you.”
Someone snorts. “Being sick not only makes you an irritable ass, it makes you overly sentimental as well. I'm your partner. It's my job to make sure you don't succumb to some ridiculous human flu.”
“Partner?” Shuuichi, stupidly, wonders aloud. Whomever had been about to speak immediately stops, and a heavy silence fills the room behind the door. Shuuichi holds his breath, even though he knows it's no use. He hadn't meant to, but he'd very clearly just been caught eavesdropping on his brother. There's an angry sigh, the sound of something being shut hard, and then footsteps are headed towards the door. Shuuichi barely has time to step back before it's swung open.
A boy appears in the doorway. He looks to be about his brother's age, but it's a little hard to tell. He's very short-- like, not even Shuuichi's height, and he's the shortest boy in his year-- and thin. His skin is sun-tanned and his wide eyes are a dark color Shuuichi doesn't think he's ever seen before-- they look almost reddish in the warm glow of the hallway light. His black hair is spiked up, and he's wearing all black, except for a white headband tied across his forehead. His small nose and mouth are far too delicate-looking for the scowl twisting his face. Shuuichi looks down to see a pair of scuffed black boots in his hands. Did he take them upstairs with him so no one would know he was here?
The boy glares at Shuuichi in silence for a few extremely awkward seconds, before sweeping past him and heading downstairs. He doesn't even call out a goodbye to the boy he'd been visiting. Shuuichi vaguely notes that the boy moves almost silently through their house-- he even knows how to skip over the worn part of the stair step so it doesn't squeak. The only indication they get of him finally leaving is the sound of the front door being shut-- and that's just a soft click.
Shuuichi looks up as his brother comes to stand in the doorway. He looks a lot worse than he had yesterday-- pale, tired, sweaty, and wearing the same rumpled pajamas he had on yesterday. “Shuuichi. I didn't hear you come home,” his brother croaks.
Shuuichi fidgets under the older boy's gaze. “Sorry. I was trying to be quiet so I didn't wake you up,” he explains, feeling just a little guilty about accidentally spying on his brother. “Um... you're friend didn't have to leave. I wouldn't have told Mom and Dad about you having someone over when you're supposed to be resting.”
His brother studies his face, like he's trying to figure out if Shuuichi is lying about ratting him out to their parents. He's not, really. It's kind of cool-- and totally unexpected-- that his brother would break the rules like that. He must realize Shuuichi is telling the truth, because he gives him a faint smile and says, “Hiei was about to leave anyway. Don't worry about it.”
“O-okay.” Shuuichi hesitates. “Do you... need anything? I can get it for you.”
He shakes his head no. “I've got everything I need.” After a moment, his brother tilts his head to the side, considering the younger boy. “Actually, Mother called earlier to say she was going to be home later than she originally thought. Want to go downstairs with me and watch a movie?”
...Really? “Mom and Dad say homework has to be done first, and I have a test coming up.”
“Don't worry about it,” his brother says again, and he reaches over to ruffle Shuuichi's hair. “I'll help you get it done before they get home tonight. Promise.”
Shuuichi wonders if it's the fever, or if his brother has always secretly been kind of cool. He helps the older boy carry down his blankets to wrap up in so his brother can focus on not spilling the cup of tea his friend had made him. (Hiei, or whatever his name was, wasn't wrong. It smells nasty.) They settle in the living room on the couch together-- his brother's blanket mound takes up most of the space, but he lets Shuuichi stretch out and shove his feet under his covers to keep warm. Shuuichi picks the movie-- a slasher flick with plenty of gore. He thought it might seem impressive to the older boy, but halfway through the violence is starting to make him a little queasy. His brother, on the other hand, seems quietly amused the entire time. And during the final confrontation, when the main guy and girl attack the masked killer, he actually laughs at all the special effect blood and guts.
Shuuichi's tea seems to do something-- settle his stomach, maybe-- because he mentions dinner as soon as the movie ends. He tells Shuuichi (it's not that annoying, is it? It's easy enough to figure out which of them someone might be talking about.) to grab his wallet from his desk, and to order whatever he feels like. Shuuichi wonders if he should pick a place that'll have something easy on his brother's stomach, like soup, but when he mentions it his brother just grimaces and says absolutely not. Shuuichi picks pizza, since they rarely have it, and watches amazed as his brother, who just this morning was puking his guts up, wolfs down half a pizza himself in just a matter of minutes.
After they eat, Shuuichi cleans up the empty pizza boxes, and finally goes to grab his homework from upstairs. He feels a little embarrassed when he sits back down with it. He knows he's not the best student, but he tries his best and that's good enough for his parents. But sitting in front of his brother, who almost always has top marks in all his classes, Shuuichi for once in his life feels kind of... well, dumb. He worries he won't be able to understand anything Shuuichi tries explaining to him.
He shouldn't though, because his brother is actually an amazing tutor.
The way he makes everything seem so simple, from the equations on his math worksheet to the essay questions for his history class. Shiori was right, and Shuuichi should have asked for his brother's help a long time ago. They fly through his homework in no time, and the older boy even writes up a study guide for Shuuichi to use so he'll be better prepared for his test. Shuuichi thanks him over and over again for the help-- he actually feels like he's going to do pretty well on his test this time-- but his brother just ruffles his hair again and says he's happy to help anytime.
By the time both Shiori and their dad make it back home, the older Shuuichi has fallen asleep on the couch again, and the younger Shuuichi has grabbed his own blanket to wrap up in and switched the movie to one of his dad's quieter period pieces. Shiori leans over the back of the couch to gently press her hand against her son's forehead. She smiles as she pulls it away. “Well,” she whispers, “he doesn't seem as warm as he was this morning. How do you think he's feeling?”
“Better now, I think,” Shuuichi answers.
“Good.” She moves so she can place a kiss to the top of her younger son's head. “Thank you for keeping him company. I'm sure that meant a lot to him.”
“No problem, Mom.”
His dad comes over and gives his shoulder a pat, before both he and Shiori head upstairs. Shuuichi's gaze falls to his brother. He doesn't know if hanging out all evening meant anything to the older boy or not, but... it did to him. Today was the first time the two of them have really spent any time together. There was that month alone when their parents were on their honeymoon, but Shuuichi barely remembers it-- it passed in such a blur-- but he does remember that he barely ever saw his brother. Shuuichi had thought that meant the older boy didn't like him, and was avoiding him, but maybe he'd had it wrong. Maybe they were both just too unsure and awkward to bridge the gap between them then. Maybe they needed an evening like this to finally figure out how to be brothers to one another.
The next morning, Shuuichi is yawning over his breakfast, for once in his life not so anxious about his test that day that he becomes too queasy to eat. His mom and dad are already at the table, like normal. He hears footsteps coming down the stairs, and then a head of wild (but combed) red hair and a neat, wrinkle-free uniform comes walking into the room.
“Good morning, everyone,” Shuuichi says cheerfully, bending down to kiss his mother on the cheek.
“Feeling better?” their dad asks.
“Much better. Thank you.”
The Shuuichi he's known since their parents first got married is back. His calm smile, the perfectly polite way of speaking. Shuuichi stares at his brother as he takes his seat next to him. He wonders why his brother bothers to pretend. Because that's what it is, isn't it? He pretends he's this bookish, always unbothered son who never gets bad grades, never gets angry, and is perfectly happy spending every evening with his parents. That's not who Shuuichi Minamino is though. Shuuichi Minamino is an asshole when he's sick, laughs at scary movies, sneaks friends over to his house, and has fun hanging out with his little brother. He's not perfect. If someone had asked Shuuichi a couple days ago if he like having a brother now, he would have told them hell no. Now that he knows what his brother is really like, knows more about who he is under that perfect son facade, he thinks he's probably the luckiest kid out there.
They eat breakfast together like they do every morning, but this time, Shuuichi watches. He watches his dad stare at Shiori like he's wondering what he ever did to deserve to be so happy, and he watches Shiori fuss over her son, her eyes full of love as she asks him if he's really okay now, or does he want another day to rest. He thinks of this time a year and a half ago, when it was just him and his dad, doing okay but not great, because they were both missing something in their lives but neither of them could put a name to it.
“Will you walk to school with me?” he asks his brother a little later, as they're both slipping on their shoes. “I've got a couple questions about some things my teacher said were supposed to be on the test today.”
Shuuichi smiles at him. “Of course. Anything for my little brother.”
He ruffles his hair, and maybe a few days ago Shuuichi would have pushed his hand away, or looked at him like he was crazy, but now he just grins up at his brother. “Thanks, Shuuichi. You're the best!”