Solace:
I do not own TWEWY, Square Enix does!
Written for: [Twelve Shots of Summer: Trinity Limit] - Week 1...
"Are you sure he has enough money?"
Joshua paused, glancing at his half-brother as he sighed. "Ayumu, he owns a successful business... Why wouldn't he have enough?"
Ayumu merely scowled as Joshua fought to separate the shopping carts. "He owns a cafe, Josh."
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Joshua asked as he narrowed his eyes, grunting, as the cart he wanted was being so stubborn with him! He let out a growl as he felt lukewarm sweat drip down his face, grimacing as he wiped the sordid fluid off of his fair skinned face then flicked his hands away from him for a bit. 'Dammit! I'm sweating, ugh…' After a while he tried again, only to receive the same results. 'Why won't they separate!? Separate already!'
"If he owns such a successful business..." Ayumu drawled in a matter-of-fact tone, Joshua regarded his younger half-brother to see him clasp his hands together when he quipped haughtily, "Why would he need to have a cafe? I mean, come on, can't you see what that means?"
"Sanae is doing fine, Ayumu-" Joshua turned his head to glare at the cart, snarling in frustration, "Dammit! Why won't the carts separate!?"
"I don't know..." The petite blond frowned at him. "We could just get a basket?"
"There's no way I'm doing that!" Joshua spat as he tried again, cursing the store for its terrible maintenance. "Carrying a shopping basket? No!"
"Err... why not?" Ayumu asked in confusion.
"Wheels allow for less effort, Ayumu," Joshua chirped cheerfully as he smiled at Ayumu. "Good traction... It's wonderful..."
"Yeah, yeah... I learned that in school... But…" replied the almost 15 year old quietly as he held his hands together. "Why does that make you so happy?"
"Less work is good for my health, Ayumu," Joshua chirped with a nod. "Therefore, we must go with the cart."
"Of course..." Ayumu mused quietly with a sigh. After a few seconds he tilted his head to one side. "If it's too much of a hassle, shouldn't we just ask one of the workers to help?"
Joshua paused, panting, as his latest exertion exhausted him when he shook his head. "If the maintenance is this bad... the workers must be just as bad." As he turned to Ayumu, he grimaced as he crossed his arms. "Look… we don't need some dense employee to help us... We're fine on our own, just as we've always been."
His half-brother closed his blind eyes with a sigh. "Not all of them are dumb, Josh..."
"Oh yeah? Explain why this stupid cart won't budge!" grumbled Joshua as he gestured to the stubborn shopping cart. "This- is horrible service, Ayumu... You can tell what the employees are like based on the service you see… seeing that work is reflected by the individual…" he narrowed his eyes as he added, "Or, in this case, the individuals…Thus, as I can tell, this is horrible service, and that means the employees here are lazy simpletons... We shouldn't bother with people like that…"
"For all we know," Ayumu murmured as he walked over to join Joshua, tipping his head a bit to the side as he blinked. "They could be nice, helpful people…"
"Oh yeah, for all we know the next time we come here, Ryou and Sora will be part-timers here…" grumbled Joshua as he clenched his hands around the cart, glaring at the long row of carts as the memory of Ayumu's bullies came into his mind.
Ayumu became silent after that.
It was a little while until Ayumu turned his head to him. "...If you're too tired… could I try?"
"Are you sure? It was hard enough for me…" Joshua frowned when he gazed into Ayumu's pupil-less eyes, wondering whether or not he should convince Ayumu to let him do the work… as much as he hated enacting it on his freewill.
"Josh, I know you're tired…" Ayumu murmured gently in concern, blinking as he pressed, "Please?"
Joshua bit his lip. He knew he shouldn't worry, but he didn't want Ayumu to pull one of his muscles if he was the one doing the work. But Joshua had to agree; he was tired, mentally and physically, induced by that stubborn shopping cart…
"It won't be easy..." Joshua warned as he stepped aside for Ayumu to have room for his attempt, Joshua closed his eyes as he continued when he began to hear the cart rattle from Ayumu's efforts to free it, "Trust me, it is hard… I don't think you're strong enough to pull it out… so I'm pretty sure you'll become just as frustrated as I am…"
Ayumu stopped after a few seconds. Joshua heard something clinking before quick, furious rattles from the cart came again before Ayumu grunted, "Got it."
"Wait, what!?" Joshua let his lavender eyes fly open to see that Ayumu stood by the freed cart, still holding onto the handle as his blank pewter eyes met his. "H-How did you-"
"Josh, it wasn't that hard." Ayumu inhaled as he shook his head. "The seatbelt from the other cart was snagged on ours…"
"…It was?" Joshua absently watched as Ayumu nodded. "I guess it got caught when I was trying to pull the cart out…"
"Mmm… I don't think so…" Ayumu mused as he blinked, tapping the handle lightly as he added, "I think it must have happened when the last person pushed the cart in…"
"Hmm… that seems legitimate…" Joshua murmured as he proceeded to put his hand on Ayumu's shoulder. "Good job, Ayu…"
Ayumu ducked and avoided his hand, giving him a glare as he protested in annoyance, "I'm not a girl, Josh!"
"Aw come on... it's just a nickname!" Joshua tried to give Ayumu a noogie for that, but Ayumu dodged him again.
"It's just a nickname I hate, Yoshiya!"
Joshua merely snickered, grabbing ahold of the shopping cart's handle and pulled it backwards. "Well, unlike you, I love it..." He turned the cart and pushed it with ease. "Ah... see what a wonderful contraption this is?"
"If you think so..." Ayumu inhaled as he shrugged. He followed Joshua into the store. "Let's just get my groceries..."
"So, Josh… you have your wallet, right?" Ayumu asked as Joshua struggled to place in the case of Melon Soda.
Joshua panted and wheezed, dropping the case in and immediately wiping away any sweat that secreted from his forehead. 'That case sure was heavy…' He flicked his hands for a few seconds then placed them down on the handle, tightening his hold on the shopping cart as he nodded. "I do, but Sanae will pay me back later…" After that, he continued to pant and gasp for the oxygen he lost from doing labor.
"So... Sanae is paying for my groceries then… right?" asked Ayumu suddenly. Joshua heard some uncertainty in his tone so he turned to his younger half-brother.
"Well yeah… Sanae's our guardian. So, it makes sense he would pay for it, right?" Joshua replied a bit puzzled when Ayumu simply turned his head away. "Does it bother you?"
Ayumu narrowed his eyes. "Of course. You know that I don't like him… And hearing that he's responsible for us, our money, our food… It's terrible!"
"No it isn't, Ayumu!" chirped Joshua, as he felt that he could continue on pushing the cart now that he had rested. "Sanae handles things quite well… He wouldn't let us starve, hehehe…"
"Sure…" Ayumu grumbled just as Joshua was about to turn out of the aisle. "I can hardly wait for my ribs to poke me..."
"I mean it. Sanae is not as horrible as you think he is, Ayumu." Joshua scanned the area, trying to search for the Dairy Section. He hadn't really shopped here a lot; mostly his mother had, so he didn't have much of a clue for where every item in the store was. Ayumu came here with his mother a lot, so Joshua had a guide to help him.
"Do you know where the Dairy Section is…?" Joshua asked as he sheepishly smiled.
The petite blond snorted in amusement. "I still can't believe you don't know your way around the store, Josh…"
"Hey! I don't like being clustered…" Joshua groaned as Ayumu walked ahead of him, in which Joshua followed soon after. "Stores are not my cup of tea…"
"Sanae's café isn't mine…" Ayumu reminded him with annoyance. "Nor is tea…"
'Yeah… that's true…' Joshua thought sadly as he sighed, trying his best to keep up. He grimaced as he felt exhausted soon, watching as Ayumu seemed to get farther and farther away from him. With a wheeze he stopped, soon leaning against the cart as he gasped out desperately, "Ayumu! You're going too fast!"
Ayumu stopped, turning to him. "Seriously? I'm briskly walking?"
"And you're tiring me out…" Joshua gasped as he panted. "Could you just walk beside the cart? Not briskly walking…?"
Ayumu screwed up his face, hesitating a bit then sighed as he padded over to Joshua.
As they walked, Joshua couldn't help but notice how peaceful it was early in the morning… when there were less people, less chatter… silence… It was perfect, simply walking through the store without any ruckus from the whining and wailing children, women fighting over himono, blocked aisles from ignorant shoppers… He would say he was in paradise right now… there was nothing but silence and his half-brother…
It was perfection…
"…H-Hey, Josh?"
Joshua hummed, "Yeah, Ayumu?"
"I-I've been thinking about something..." Ayumu's pace slowed down a bit.
Joshua watched Ayumu from the corner of his eye. "Okay... do you want to talk about it?"
The petite blond stopped suddenly, causing Joshua to try to pull the cart to a stop. The wheels screeched in protest as he managed to make it stop before it hit the stack of cans in front of him, then he sighed in relief. 'That was so close... I didn't think we'd get here this fast...' He studied his surroundings then frowned.
He was a bit confused for why Ayumu stopped here, this wasn't the Dairy Section? He turned to Ayumu to find that his half-brother hung his head and was silent.
"H-Hey... is something wrong?" Joshua frowned as he studied Ayumu, sensing that something was bothering him.
"N-Nevermind!" Ayumu shook his head; he tried to walk past Joshua briskly. "We still have to get some milk, some cheese, some-"
The ashen blond instantly lunged to grab his half-brother's wrist, drawing Ayumu back a bit when he tried to pull away. Joshua blinked when Ayumu shook a little. "Ayumu... what's wrong?" Ayumu still didn't reply which made him concerned. "Ayumu… you're acting odd… Could you please tell me what's wrong?"
Ayumu didn't turn to face him. "S-Should we really live in two different houses?"
Joshua was a bit confused. Their parents in their wills gave ownership of their houses to them; everything was enlisted in their names... Why was Ayumu bringing up this topic?
"I mean, we don't have jobs..." Ayumu whimpered as he sniffled. "We can't pay our own bills..."
"Sanae will worry about that, Ayumu..." Joshua replied softly, stepping closer to try to look at Ayumu's face from underneath his slightly messy blond locks. "We don't need jobs... It'll be okay..."
Ayumu turned his head away. "How can Sanae pay for two houses?" He trembled as Joshua heard him sniffle again. "He doesn't even have one does he!? So how can he!?"
"Calm down..." Joshua closed his eyes, drawing his arms around Ayumu and pulling him close. Despite his awkwardness of giving hugs, he could see Ayumu needed some form of comfort. "Sanae earns enough money, it's not our problem..."
"Of course it is!" Ayumu cried as he rested his head on Joshua's shoulder. "When we're on the street- homeless- it will be!"
"We won't live on the street-"
"Then we'll be shipped off to an orphanage!" shouted Ayumu raggedly into his shoulder. "They'll take us away because of how he can't pay the bills! He can't- he can't take care of us, Josh!"
Joshua stiffened; choking a bit on his inhale. 'Ayumu...'
After their parents died, Joshua had a fear that Auntie Chise didn't have a will. So for the next few days before and during the funeral, he was scared Ayumu would be sent to an orphanage… They did find her will, but it was written entirely in braille. It wasn't a problem seeing that Joshua could read braille fine, Ayumu as well, but the executor of Joshua's parents' wills told him someone else had to read the will for purposes that either of them could lie about what was written in Ayumu's mother's will. Apparently it was protocol that he was subjected to follow… as much as Joshua despised waiting in dread that he could lose his half-brother to an orphanage... Luckily, Sanae was able to find someone else who could read braille, and they found out Ayumu's new guardian was Sanae. This lulled Joshua's fear, but Joshua could tell now that Ayumu's fears hadn't.
Even as he was now aware of the wetness his light jacket was absorbing, he held Ayumu and closed his eyes, hearing Ayumu sob and hiccup...
He hated it, how he didn't think about how Ayumu might have felt about living in separate houses. He wished he could have been aware of this sooner, but he hadn't... he was oblivious to how Ayumu was doing... It was like the time Ayumu ran away, Joshua couldn't help but feel awful as he had watched Ayumu grieve for many days since their parents died... It was easy for Joshua to move on, but for Ayumu he simply shut himself up in his room, refusing to leave. Finally, Joshua had given him a harsh reality check, against Sanae's advice to let Ayumu be, because Joshua couldn't take another moment of watching Ayumu give up... In the end, it caused Ayumu to run away due to how much he was going through because of that horrible accident... But that had been 2 days ago... Ayumu might have moved on since Joshua found him, but that didn't mean he didn't need Joshua...
In fact, Joshua couldn't remember a day that Ayumu didn't need him...
By now Ayumu's sobs were quieting down, so Joshua smiled as he heard Ayumu's breathing return to normal.
"A-Are we going to be fine?" asked Ayumu meekly.
"Ayumu… we'll be fine…" Joshua took in a deep inhale, narrowing his eyes at bystanders who were watching them. He curled his lip a bit. 'Do they have nothing better to do? Can't they mind their own business?'
"H-How can we?" Ayumu sniffled. Joshua drew himself out of the hug and Ayumu stared at him with reddened eyes. "I'm blind… I can't work…"
"Your mom was a fortuneteller," Joshua said gently, taking in another breath. "I'm sure there's ways for you to get a job… But right now, Sanae will deal with that stuff… You have to trust me on this, Ayumu… I don't want you to bottle up these sorts of things anymore… I'm here for you, always… Don't forget that…"
Ayumu sniffled again and nodding, wiping away his tears with his jacket sleeve. "But… we should keep that possibility in mind…"
"Huh?" Joshua frowned at that.
"You know, moving into one of our houses?" Ayumu mused sadly. "As much as I don't like it… it's a possibility that's logical moneywise…"
"Trust me… it won't happen, Ayumu…" Joshua smiled in amusement as Ayumu inhaled deeply, watching as Ayumu blinked a few times as he came over to hug him. Joshua stiffened at once, feeling the overwhelming warmth and awkwardness of receiving the hug.
"It could happen… it's always a possibility…" he heard Ayumu murmur sadly. "We should be ready just in case, Josh…"
Joshua let out a sigh of amusement, returning the embrace awkwardly. "When will you drop your logical arguments?"
"I don't know... Maybe when you stop believing in that stupid soul game…"
"The Reaper's Game?" The older half-brother grimaced before letting himself smirk. "Well… that possibility may not happen."
"We'll see…" Ayumu replied softly.
Joshua snorted at that. 'Yeah right…'
His brother may have been too logical and arrogant for his own good at times, but Joshua would be there to make sure his younger half-brother didn't lose himself because of that. Ayumu would always need him, and Joshua would always be there for him.
He would make sure of that.
-End-
I hope you enjoyed the story! =3
...
EeveeGen9988: Wow! This was one of my first completed stories! *victory music plays and confetti shoots up and floats down onto EeveeGen9988* And my first one-shot! *more confetti shoots up* It felt weird at first writing a single installment… but then I got into the grove of it when I finally found a good point to start at! *even more confetti shoots up. EeveeGen9988 looks at all the confetti laying around and grimaces, goes to look for a broom to clean up the mess*
So I went with the alterative prompt [Unfinished Business]. I was initially going for [Inheritance] but it proved to be… challenging… despite how easy the prompt was to understand, since it was so straightforward! =( I mean, I did plan out something for [Inheritance] but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to… nor did it meet my standards… meh… *shrugs and kicks the failed attempt of a story under a rug* I was a bit suspicious about [Unfinished Business] but then I figured something out for it. =3
[Inheritance] might have snuck in an element for a bit, but it wasn't the prominent part of the story… *leans down and holds a magnifying glass and looks down at the element* but [Unfinished Business] definitely was the prompt I used. *the sun shines through the magnifying glass, the tiny [Inheritance] element catches fire, EeveeGen9988 screams and rushes to find water to put out the fire*