[63] Frustration

                                    

                                          
"Nii-chan?" You waved your small hand in front of your brother's face. 
                          
No response. (B/N) just sat there staring off into space with a huge frown. You could see his left hand subconsciously stroking his right forearm, which was heavily bandaged due to the recent incident with your parents. 
                          
You tilted your head. "...Nii-chan?" 
                          
No response again.
                          
A childish pout made its way to your face as you started jumping in front of him. "NII-CHAN!!"
                          
"–What?" Your brother finally managed to snap out of his thoughts. His frown faded away as he looked at you with a small smile. 
                          
"Are you okay, Nii-chan?" you asked him worriedly. "Does your arm hurt??"
                          
(B/N) looked taken aback for a moment before shaking his head. "My arm's fine, (Y/N). You did a great job bandaging it." He chuckles. 
                          
"Oh..." you furrowed your brows slightly. "Then, what were you staring at earlier?" you wondered, looking at the direction your brother was facing. You only saw rows and rows of trees with barely any leaves left. Winter was approaching, after all. 
                          
(B/N) shrugged and stood up. "It was nothing," he replied, patting you on the head. "Do you wanna head home? It's starting to get really chilly." 
                          
"Okay!" You nodded at him with a grin. "I want hot chocolate!" 
                          
"Yeah, sure."
_ _ _
                          
You decided to sit by the dining table today. You sipped on your hot chocolate, letting your small feet dangle from the tall chair.
                          
"Hey, Nii-chan... Do you hate Mom and Dad?" You asked, blowing off the steam from your cup.
                          
Your brother sat in front of you, visibly tensing up at the question. "...Why do you ask?" 
                          
You looked down. "Well... Mom and Dad hurt you really badly..." you mutter.
                          
(B/N) reached for his right arm on instinct. "Oh... don't worry about that, (Y/N). I don't hate them," he says, giving you a wide, reassuring smile. 
                          
You looked up at his face. "Are you sure??" you ask, furrowing your brows suspiciously. 
                          
Your brother chuckles, standing up from his seat. "Yeah of course, (Y/N)." He smiles, patting you on the head. "I'm sure things will go back to normal in no time!" He offers you a thumbs up. 
                          
 "Okay!!" You smile back at him.
                          
_ _ _
                          
Well, too bad your brother's a liar. 
                          
It was late afternoon, and you were walking back home with your brother. Rather, your brother was the one walking. You, meanwhile, were happily skipping towards the house. 
                          
You managed to get to the front door ahead of him. But as you were about to open the door, you heard voices coming from inside. Familiar ones. 
                          
It was your parents.

                          
Your eyes widened. Normally, you would slam the door open and run towards them with open arms. You always remembered them greeting you with warm smiles, but now, you questioned if those smiles were even real. 
                          
On instinct, you looked back at your brother's bandaged arm, then at his face. You could see the small smile vanish from his face as he looked at you worriedly. 
                          
"Nii-chan..." You watched as he brisk-walked towards you. 
                          
"What's wrong?" He put a hand on your shoulder. Soon afterward, he tensed up. It seems he heard the voices as well.