He waved his father out of the house, the words 'good luck' coming out barely as a whisper. His dad liked to think Garuru was unaware, but Garuru knew about the police interviews and court cases. He wasn't actually sure why his father was doing this, all he had said was that it was only to protect both him and his younger brother, and to the purple tadpole, Giroro's wellbeing was of utmost importance.
Shaking the grim thoughts from his mind, the sixteen year old made his way into the living room, where he had left him before seeing his father out. Giroro had obviously planned for Garuru to babysit him, as he had a pair of binoculars and a torch. Giroro saw Garuru's odd look, so he put on the cutest face he could muster.
"Please, bro?" he asked, pouting in an attempt to look sad.
"I'm not taking you star gazing. Not alone, anyway. It's dangerous to go out in the dark" Garuru reasoned.
"Aww, but Garuruuuuu-"
"Leave it, Giroro, there's loads of stuff we could do instead" The older brother suggested.
Giroro frowned, pouting for real this time.
"You didn't mind going alone with Takuku*" He muttered, causing Garuru to do a double take with a blush.
"That was different. It was for a school project." He said quickly.
Last year, Garuru's class had a flexible science project that allowed them to do any subject of their choosing. Garuru had chosen astrology, despite his lack of interest in it, because his friend Takuku had picked it, and he wanted an excuse to do a joint project with her. He liked to think his crush on her wasn't obvious, but Giroro often used it to get to him on occasions such as these, when Garuru refused to hang out or play with him.
Giroro simply huffed again and marched over to the sofa, sitting down with a muffled 'flump' and curling into a ball. Garuru liked to call this series of actions Giroro's 'Grump Mode'.
"Giroro…"
"Hmpf!'
Garuru was about to remark on his brother's immaturity, before remembering his brother was only seven. So he simply ignored him, patting around the sofa for his Game Boy, finding it in between the cushions, as usual. He needed to watch where he left that thing.
Unsurprisingly, after about ten minutes of game play, a little red lump found its way to the sofa, wedging between the arm and Garuru.
"Lemme see" it squeaked.
Garuru said nothing, but lifted up his arms to allow his little brother to clamber on to his lap to watch him play the game he was playing, which in that particular case was 'Nyororo – The Arrival.' Giroro ultimately found this game really boring, as it was dully coloured and didn't have very exciting music.
"Bro, can you play the one with the squishy pink thing? You know, the one from Pokopen?" He asked sweetly.
The game he was referring to had actually been a sixth birthday present from his friend Zeroro, whose father did a lot of work on Pokopen. Giroro wasn't very good at video games, so he always pleaded Garuru to play it for him. Of course, even though the game was a bit too cute and lively for his tastes, Garuru couldn't often bring himself to deny his little brother, and the little giggles he made when watching the game often made him chuckle himself.
"Alright, alright" he sighed, reaching into the little ceramic box that they kept the games in, painted by himself long before Giroro was born. Inserting the game, Garuru played it for an hour or two, letting Giroro tell him which paths he should take throughout the game, wanting Giroro to get involved, as it was his game.
Garuru ended the game just before the handheld's battery power ran out, and as he did so, he heard the front door unlock. Was his father already back?
"Hello?" he called out curiously, not too loud as it seemed his brother was drifting off.
"It's only me" said a familiar voice the boys hadn't heard for a good couple of months. Garuru grinned and made his way to the landing, his brother tailing sleepily behind him.
"Uncle Dosese! What are you doing here?" Garuru asked in surprise, though he grinned all the same. He and his younger brother adored their uncle. He was similar to their dad, his younger brother, but more playful and less grumpy. He had been helping out a lot during his brother's divorce process.
"Uncle!" Giroro chirped, clinging to Dosese's waist.
"Hey, you two, are you both alright?" Their uncle asked with a smile as he was dragged into the living room by the no longer sleepy tadpole.
"Yeah!" Giroro grinned as he returned to the spot he was sat in before.
"You've been holding the fort, have you, kid?" Dosese smiled, patting Garuru on the head.
"I'm not a kid, but yes I have been"
Their uncle chuckled to himself before taking a seat of his own.
"Is Garoro in court?" he asked.
"Yes. Could you tell us why he's there? Is he in trouble?" Garuru asked, unable to restrain his curiosity on the subject.
Dosese sighed and rubbed his temples slightly. He looked to the side, relaxing slightly to see that Giroro was asleep.
"It's your mother again" he said.
"What? Mother? What does she want?" Garuru scowled "What has she done now?"
"She hasn't done anything, Garuru. She's taken Garoro to court to battle for permission to see you two" he explained.
"I don't want to see her!" Garuru growled.
"I do…" came a sleepy voice from the sofa. Giroro had been awake after all.
There was a silence as Garuru fumed, glaring daggers at his brother, but he didn't dare say anything. His father's glare obviously ran in the family, and Garuru didn't think it suited his uncle's face.
"Dad will win the trial, won't he?" Garuru asked hopefully.
"It isn't a trial, Garuru, it's a negotiation"
"You mean dad might actually-" Garuru began before putting his head in his hands, hissing angrily to himself. He didn't begin to calm until he felt his uncle's hand on his shoulder, and he looked up.
"Garuru"
The purple tadpole simply returned his uncles gaze for a while before wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. Garuru didn't cry, although he really wanted to, and it was making his face ache. Giroro watched in confusion. He still couldn't understand why everyone was so angry at his mummy. Sure, he didn't like her when she got angry, because she might punish him with sea cucumbers, but other than that, he saw no reason to dislike her. He was too young to understand.
A couple more hours had passed, Dosese had put Giroro to bed, and was attempting to urge Garuru into his room as well, before the door opened again, and Garoro walked in.
"Father" Garuru said, as he went to greet him at the door. His father smiled tiredly as he patted his son's head.
"Everything alright?" he asked.
"Yes. Uncle is here"
Garoro seemed to relax slightly, walking into the lounge, where his brother was sat down.
"Dosese" he greeted with a tired smile.
"Ah, little bro, there you are. I thought I'd drop by to help with the kids and see how you were doing" Dosese smiled back.
"You didn't have to do that"
"How did it go?" Dosese asked, ignoring his brother's comment. Garoro sat down next to his curious looking son before explaining.
"Long story short, if the kids want to see her, then they can, in controlled circumstances of course" He said.
"Father!" Garuru gasped, not believing that his father had actually allowed this.
"Like I said, only if you want to"
"But Giroro wants to! I refuse to allow-"
"I can see mummy again?" came a quiet voice from behind the door.
"Giroro! You're supposed to be in bed" Dosese tutted, though he allowed his youngest nephew to sit on his lap.
"Father!" Garuru cried in frustration.
"Garuru, it will be in controlled circumstances. Giroro will not be left alone with Takaka, someone will be there overseeing it"
Garuru could see that this was a discussion that he couldn't win, so he stopped talking and simply glared at his brother, who looked very uncomfortable under his piercing gaze.
Later that night, when Dosese had gone home and everyone was in bed, Garuru was left glaring at the ceiling. After a few minutes, he heard a thud, but when he looked up he saw no one. However, just inside his room by the door, there was a family photo album. It was the one Giroro had kept protected in his room when Garuru swore to destroy it. It was Giroro's most important possession, and Garuru found it strange that he would just bring it to his room like that.
Standing up, the purple tadpole cautiously approached the album. Before picking it up and retreating to his bed. Opening it, he was met with a message in wobbly handwriting he instantly recognised as Giroro's.
"When we were happy" Garuru read aloud quietly, a sad frown appearing on his face. He flipped through the pages, and indeed saw many glossy photos of his family looking at its happiest. They were in chronological order, so one of the first ones was during his parent's wedding reception, and they continued on, the purchase of their first house together, when Garuru was born, Garuru playing with his dad and his mum, when Giroro was born, up until the last photo they had together with her, which was Giroro cuddled into her lap while she dragged her reluctant older son towards her to give his a kiss on his head. Garuru couldn't help but laugh at the picture.
Closing the book, he sighed, not needing to look up to know that Giroro was standing at the door.
"Come on then" Garuru prompted, feeling Giroro join him on his bed, cuddling near to him.
"I want to see mummy again, bro" he whispered.
Staring at the cover of the book, Garuru couldn't bring himself to tell his younger brother off for wanting that. The woman in the photo's he just viewed was the best mother in the world, in his opinion. She was happy, fun, and loving. There was nothing evil about her. Maybe, somewhere beneath the tyrannical outer shell, that perfect other still lingered.
It was a theory the brothers would share for years to come.
A/N
I'm not one hundred per cent sure where I was originally going with this, all I know is that I wanted to write about Garuru and Giroro again XD
Yes, their uncle is based off the silly joke about Giroro having a 'Gay Uncle' in the Funimation anime dub, I just thought it was too perfect to not become a head canon XD His name comes from the Japanese word 'Dōseiai', literally meaning homosexual XD I googled the translation for a laugh, but found that I thought the word sounded cool XD
Anyway, I'm gonna go take my dog for a walk before it gets sweltering. Maybe I'll write more fics if I get the time while I'm here :3