More Than A Mirror
Syuusuke doesn't remember a day when there wasn't Yuuta. He knows there had to be, many days, but growing up, there was always Yuuta and him.
The Fuji family was different from other families, other people. Syuusuke was smart and quick, both charming and able to keep people on the edge. Yuuta was earnest and brave, said, naively, careless things that he didn't mean and blushed when he saw their sister changing. In the Fuji family he was the normal one.
Yumiko and Syuusuke regarded their baby brother with fondness, both siblings felt that he needed protection. It was left unsaid that Syuusuke would look out for his brother when he started Seigaku. Syuusuke had been surprised when Yuuta had left, angry and refusing to even talk to him.
Before Yuuta left for the dorms at St. Rudolph's there was an awful constricted silence. Yumiko frowned at her cards and took to tapping her lip thoughtfully. Yuuta wouldn't come out when Syuusuke knocked at his door. He sat quietly when they had dinner, only talking when their mother asked a direct question. One did not go against their mother, who appeared sweet but could be callous on the occasion.
When Yuuta left, even though he hadn't he hadn't spoken to Syuusuke for days and days, Syuusuke felt the gap in the house. Yuuta, the baby, his brother with his big hands and grumpy glares, had left first.
It was dark days indeed, when Syuusuke found out his brother was under the fiend, Mizuki. At the tournament, Syuusuke watched with half lidded eyes as Yuuta's destructive stroke began to ruin his shoulder.
Still, Mizuki was treated with smiles. It made Syuusuke even more determined to make Mizuki's defeat as painful and punishing as possible.
Nobody hurt his family, nobody. He won, of course. Syuusuke wondered who ever thought that revenge was a dish served cold. It felt deliciously satisfying.
Later, Syuusuke had hope that Yuuta would smile for him again. They were brothers, after all. It was much better than defeating Mizuki.
Not that Syuusuke in any way or form regretted defeating Mizuki in the manner he had.