His Brother and His Friend

by Lucathia

Disclaimer: I do not own Kimi to Boku and make no profit from writing this.

Summary: Truthfully, Yuuki was never the closest with Shun. Truthfully, Yuuta wasn't quite sure of how to act around Chizuru. He was more his brother's friend than his.

Notes: Written for Jan for Yuletide 2017.

Their final summer was drawing to a close, but the persistent, sweltering weather meant that too many people had escaped to the cool, air conditioned stores, such as a certain bookstore the twins frequented, making their shopping trip much harder than it had to be.

Yuuta tried not to bump into anyone, following behind his younger brother, who was making his way through to the display shelf where the latest volumes were kept. Upon seeing that there was only one volume left of the new release Yuuki wanted, Yuuta turned, ready to head to a different store. Unfortunately, Yuuki took his sweet time despite the foregone conclusion.

Like Yuuta thought, his brother picked up the book, flipped it around, examined it from every angle, and placed it back on the display despite the book being in pristine condition, wrapped in plastic and all. There really had been no need for him to even pick up the book, since there was no way Yuuki would have bought it given how it was the only copy left, yet Yuuki never failed to spend several minutes dithering over a nonexistent choice when it came to his manga, leaving Yuuta waiting with nothing to do but watch the same, fruitless ritual repeat once again.

Finally, Yuuki got up and walked away, his dejection obvious in the slump of his shoulders, though it didn't show on his face. Yuuta was too familiar with his brother's idiosyncrasies. His feet fell in line with his absent-minded younger brother's as Yuuki meandered out of the bookstore to try his luck at a different one, all the while paying no heed to whether or not Yuuta was following him, or where he was going, leaving Yuuta to apologize on his brother's behalf to the random people he bumped into. Fortunately, one look at his face, and irate housewives always cheerfully forgave them. Well, almost always.

The entire time, Yuuki never bothered to look back, his mind completely focused on his mission—buying his new manga.

Sometimes, Yuuta wondered if he should just let Yuuki wander off by himself. It wasn't like Yuuki was a kid that Yuuta had to watch over every second of the day, and it wasn't like it made any difference whether or not he was present.

With Yuuki's slumped posture, Yuuta could almost see the top of Yuuki's head. It wasn't a rare sight with how often Yuuki liked to pounce on him, but it was becoming a more common sight, even without Yuuki hanging off of him, making Yuuta wonder if he himself had grown a bit taller again, if perhaps one day, he would look rather different from his younger brother, and it wouldn't just be their hairstyles that were different.

Yuuta let his feet slow down. Would Yuuki even notice?

"Yuuta has been ignoring me," Yuuki said when Shun opened the door.

Truthfully, Yuuki was never the closest with Shun. Shun was someone from a completely different planet, always going about life with a flower sprouting out of his head. Kaname was fun to tease and anger, while any attempts to rile Shun up usually went over his head. Oh, flustering Shun wasn't by any means a difficult task, but a spluttering, embarrassed Shun was a lot less entertaining than a furious Kaname yelling at him and chasing him across the school courtyard. Shun was just too Shun for Yuuki to want to tease him too much. Besides, if he took it too far, Yuuta would actually get angry at him, and wasn't that the crux of his problem right now? Yuuta was ignoring him, and Yuuki didn't know why. He wasn't Shun.

Shun, who was more Yuuta's friend than his.

(Yet, anger would be better than being ignored.)

Maybe it was because Yuuta and Shun were both older brothers, though in Shun's case, he also had two older sisters. That didn't really matter when he also had a younger brother, who was quite the handful. Even Yuuki had to acknowledge that.

Whatever was the case, Yuuta and Shun just clicked in a way that Yuuki and Shun didn't. When Yuuta was scouted by the kendo club back in middle school, Shun had joined the club with him without any hesitation, while Yuuki had made no comment and just continued reading his manga. Kingyou no unko, Kaname had once said Shun was when they were toddlers. It wasn't like Yuuki ever paid much attention to what came out of Kaname's mouth, especially back then, but that phrase had stuck with him, because to his toddler mind, he had thought, what truth. Shun is like goldfish poo, always following Yuuta everywhere.

Shun was always trailing after Yuuta. At first, it was the three of them doing everything together, with Yuuki angering Kaname every now and then, making him join in too. But somewhere along the way, it had become Yuuta and Shun more than Yuuta, Yuuki, and Shun (along with an angry Kaname).

By the time high school rolled about, and with it, Shun's adoration of traditional arts like the tea ceremony, Yuuki wasn't even surprised when Yuuta followed Shun this time, joining the tea ceremony club with him. Yuuki made no comment and just continued reading his manga.

He could have joined the club with them, but Yuuki was Yuuki and Yuuta was Yuuta. Just because they looked alike didn't mean they liked the same things. Just because his brother always claimed that he had no interests of his own didn't mean he really didn't have interests of his own, just that they always came second place to other people's wishes, when truthfully, his interests aligned with Shun's a lot more than they aligned with Yuuki's.

It also didn't mean that they shared the same friends, even though they kind of did.

(Besides that, Yuuki was not goldfish poo, thank you very much, even though goldfish were cute, but that was a completely different story. He didn't have to follow Yuuta everywhere, even though he often wondered what shenanigans Yuuta and Shun got up to without him. It was fine, since Yuuta still paid him plenty of attention despite their different interests. But if that were to stop, where would that leave Yuuki?)

So here Yuuki was, asking Shun for advice about Yuuta. If he had complaints about Yuuta, he would go to Kaname. But advice? Definitely Shun.

Shun blinked at him in confusion. Then, he looked around when there was nothing to see and asked, "Yuuta-kun isn't with you?"

Yuuki wasn't surprised. Since when did he ever come to Shun's place without Yuuta?

"Can I come in?" Yuuki asked without answering, as it was quite obvious that Yuuta wasn't with him.

"Oh! Come in, come in."

They helped themselves to a bowl of ice cream each, plopping on the floor and alternating between fanning themselves with plastic fans covered with colorful advertisements and scooping ice cream into their mouths. Shun had been too kind to turn the fans down from the shops that had been giving them out to advertise their wares. They came in handy now. A free fan was a free fan, regardless of whether it was advertising cameras or toilets. If it were advertising an electric fan, however, that would be a different story. Yuuki appreciated electric fans much more than these flimsy, plastic fans that required effort. It was a waste of energy fanning himself. The cool wind produced by the fan granted a brief respite, but his poor arm was the price he paid for that.

As the ice cream melted on his tongue, Yuuki spoke around his spoon, listing all that he had noticed about his brother lately. Yuuta had stopped nagging Yuuki about reading too much manga and not helping with chores. He let Yuuki argue with their dad without trying to play mediator. He didn't fight over the remote control...

"Isn't that a good thing? You never like it when Yuuta-kun asks you to stop reading your manga," Shun said. "Or when he asks for you and Asaba-san to get along. Or when he asks for the remote control."

Shun was right, but at the same time, he wasn't. It just wasn't right if Yuuta wasn't nagging at him. It was especially wrong when Yuuki turned around, wanting to show his brother the newest book of his favorite series after he found the perfect copy, and Yuuta wasn't there.

He wasn't there!

While Yuuta hadn't said anything, that in itself was a problem. Usually, Yuuta would nag at him to hurry up with his selection, but lately, he chose to keep silent more often than not, and that chilled Yuuki to the bone more than anything else. It was like Yuuta had simply... gotten tired of humoring him.

Just then, Shun's little brother passed by with a yawn. Perfect timing. Yuuki jerked his thumb in his direction to point him out to Shun and asked, "Do you ever find him annoying?"

Fuyuki gave a half-hearted glare. "Hey."

Shun being Shun immediately flailed his hands in denial. "N-no way! Fuyuki is my cute little brother. How could I ever find him annoying?"

Fuyuki smirked at Yuuki and continued on his way.

Now, while Shun saw the world with rosy lenses, and he thought the world of his family and friends, Fuyuki was one of the rare existences that could frustrate even the most patient of people. Shun being Shun (of course) loved his brother, but he was also never one to lie.

So, when Yuuki prodded Shun further by asking, "Don't you ever get tired of him?" Shun frowned and hesitated through his entire answer. "Um, no, not really. Oh, but..."

Yuuki turned, calling out to the hall were Fuyuki had gone, "Shun says you're tiresome!"

"Yuuki-kun! I said no such thing. It's just that sometimes Fuyuki..."

Yuuki let Shun prattle on. He still remembered Fuyuki as that diaper wearing brat that Shun had been so eager to show off, though now that diaper wearing brat was apparently hiding a bunch of porn magazines under Shun's bed, much to Shun's frustration.

Yuuki snickered.

"Yuuki-kun! It's not funny!" Shun protested.

Oh, but it was. Shun puffed up his cheeks, making Yuuki want to poke his face, so he did, causing Shun to swat his hand away. And ouch, Shun was a lot stronger than he looked.

"Frustration comes hand-in-hand with being brothers, doesn't it?" Shun suddenly asked. When Yuuki didn't comment, Shun's voice grew louder and concerned. "Um, doesn't it?"

"Maybe that's why Piroro always steals Pororo's food," Yuuki finally said.

"Um, what?"

"To show his frustration. They are the best of brothers, after all." Yuuki nodded at the sudden realization, but Shun just looked lost. It wasn't until Yuuki chattered on about how happy Piroro and Pororo had been about the latest flakes he had purchased for them (Piroro had snatched away the flakes floating down toward Pororo) that Shun ventured a guess.

"They're goldfish?" Shun asked hesitantly.

Yuuki paused. Of course they were goldfish! But that wasn't all they were. "The best of brothers," he emphasized again. Just like Yuuta and him. Yuuta hadn't wanted to head out to buy Pororo on such a hot day, but in the end, he had indulged Yuuki once again. Yuuta really was always indulging him, wasn't he? Perhaps, this time, it was time for Yuuki to put in more effort.

Shun smiled. "I didn't know you have pet fish!"

Yuuki happily continued chattering on about how cute his fish were, and he happily invited Shun to come over sometime to see them. Shun beamed at the invitation, and Yuuki found himself looking forward to showing his friend his adorable, new pets. Shun just seemed so happy for Yuuki about his pets.

No wonder his brother liked hanging around Shun.

"Hi hi! Is Yukki home?" Chizuru asked when Yuuta opened the door.

Truthfully, Yuuta still wasn't quite sure of how to act around Chizuru when they were alone together. They had only known each other for a little over a year, though it certainly felt longer than that. It was only whenever they brought up their previous schools, reminiscing about the past, that he would remember that Chizuru hadn't grown up with them. He was a force of nature, louder than life, barging into their lives and worming his way in like he had always been there.

But when it all came down to it, Chizuru was more Yuuki's friend than his, which could be traced back to the time they had played together as kids. Yuuki had never paid much attention to other kids, preferring to keep to himself, whether it was reading his manga, or hanging off of Yuuta. They were always together. When weren't they together? But one bout of sickness was enough for Yuuki to spread his wings and leave Yuuta behind.

Yuuta shook his head. But more than that, he was confused, as Yuuki had told him that he was heading out, which Yuuta had assumed meant that he was going to hang out with Chizuru.

"Ehhh? I thought he would definitely be home on such a hot day, hogging the fan!" Chizuru exclaimed.

It didn't sound like they had made plans.

Without waiting for an invitation, Chizuru walked right in, leaving Yuuta blinking in confusion after him.

"I'll just wait for him here then!"

That was how Yuuta found himself alone in his room with Chizuru poking about the place, gleeful at the chance to explore the room without the owner there. (What about me? Yuuta had asked, as he was certainly one of the occupants of the room. Hehe, oniichan won't mind, right? Chizuru had answered.)

He probably should mind, but he didn't, so he watched on as the loud boy stuck his hand under the bunk bed, pouting when all he found were old issues of Animajor. He really needed to look higher up if he wanted to find something else, but Yuuta was in no hurry to reveal that.

What did Yuuki usually talk with Chizuru about? Yuuta hadn't stopped wondering at a side of his brother that he didn't know, but that Chizuru did.

Yuuta and Chizuru didn't do much talking. To be precise, Yuuta didn't do much talking, since Chizuru talked enough for both of them. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Yuuki and Chizuru got along. Yuuki couldn't be bothered to talk all the time, and Chizuru seemed like he could chatter enough for both of them.

"Hey, what's this?" Chizuru asked, pulling out a dusty capsule squished between old magazines to prop them up. "It looks familiar... No way! Is this that?"

Chizuru's eyes practically sparkled as he waved the capsule around.

For a moment, Yuuta had no idea what Chizuru was talking about. After all, Yuuki was the one who liked to collect capsules. Yuuta couldn't remember what figure was inside of this particular capsule. But then, Chizuru looked around in determination, grabbed a hat, and stood on the tip of his toes to slip it on Yuuta's head.

As Yuuta lifted the brim higher so he could see, Chizuru stepped back and held his hand out with the capsule thrust forward, sparking a memory that Yuuta thought he had long forgotten. How had Chizuru even remembered that he had been wearing a hat?

"Here! A token of our friendship!"

Yuuta quirked a smile. "Is that what you said back then?"

"Nope! I used German, remember?"

"I mean the contents of what you said. I always wondered what you had said."

Truthfully, back then, if Yuuta remembered correctly, he had wondered if the blond boy, who could possibly have been a yankee, had even been speaking a language from Earth.

"Oh, I made it up just now. I don't remember what I said back then. But isn't this cool? This is totally a token of our friendship!"

Yuuta took the capsule, popping open the lid.

"Man, it really was Yuuta back then, wasn't it? I can't believe I couldn't tell the two of you apart. I feel so silly that I said goodbye to the wrong kid. No wonder you just stared at me without responding," Chizuru lamented.

"I was wearing a hat," Yuuta gave him. Besides, Chizuru had spoken in German. Of course, Yuuta hadn't understood him. Then again, Yuuki and Chizuru had played together several times despite having the same problem. Maybe it hadn't been a problem for them.

"Ah!" Chizuru suddenly screamed, causing Yuuta to wince. Before Yuuta could ask what had prompted Chizuru to scream out of nowhere, the loud boy pointed at the figure Yuuta held in his hand.

"That's not the capsule I gave you!" Chizuru wailed. "I don't remember who was in it, but it definitely wasn't an egg with eyes!"

Both boys glanced at what Yuuta held. It was indeed an egg with eyes. Droopy eyes. The egg practically oozed laziness. It looked vaguely familiar. It wasn't like Yuuta hadn't seen this character around, but he had never looked this closely at it. After staring at it for much too long, a snicker escaped out of Chizuru.

"It's Yukki!" Chizuru laughed and hugged his stomach, as he had doubled over in laughter.

Ah, that explained the familiarity Yuuta felt. Yuuta chuckled.

"You think so too!" Chizuru crowed, though he sighed soon after. "Wouldn't it have been so awesome if it had been the capsule I gave you? It'd be a sign of our enduring friendship!"

Yuuta smiled at that, placing the egg back in the capsule. It had been so long since Chizuru had given him that capsule that it would have been surprising if Chizuru had randomly chanced upon it now. Yuuta didn't even remember where Yuuki had put it. That reminded him... "Actually, I gave it away to Yuuki."

"What? You gave our friendship away?" Chizuru exclaimed in mock horror, hands placed over his heart.

"Good thing too, since you actually meant to give it to him," Yuuta said. And Yuuta meant it. He remembered more now. He had been sick, so Yuuki had gone out to the park to play by himself. It must have been then that Yuuki had met Chizuru, and they had hit it off.

If it had been the other way around, with Yuuki sick in bed, and Yuuta off at the park, would he and the younger Chizuru had hit it off? Whatever would have happened, Yuuta was glad it had happened the way it did. Chizuru was a good friend. Yuuta had never seen Yuuki invested in a fight with a friend until Chizuru had come along, and neither had Yuuki gone out so much to hang out with a friend. It made Yuuta lonely sometimes, having his brother spend less time with him, but it also made him insanely proud to see Yuuki grow into himself. The things Chizuru got Yuuki into! Yuuki had even put effort into practicing for the cheering squad after Chizuru volunteered him for it, when effort was something Yuuki disliked. Sometimes, a force of nature was exactly what Yuuki needed, as Yuuki was someone who wouldn't even join a club if Yuuta, Shun, and Kaname hadn't found one for him.

Chizuru let his hands drop. "You know what? As a token of our friendship, I'm going to give you another capsule! You're going to keep this one because you're my friend too!"

He was, wasn't he? But what he said was, "Capsules are more Yuuki's thing."

"Bah! It's a gift! You're you and Yukki is Yukki! That's why you're getting one!"

Chizuru's logic was so simple that Yuuta felt he had been worrying over nothing. He and Yuuki were twins. Yuuki had a great interest in anime, manga, and video games while Yuuta knew plenty about them only because of his brother. He didn't really have any particular interests of his own, even though he watched the same series Yuuki did and sometimes flipped through the new books Yuuki bought. He had always made it a point to say that they were Yuuki's interests and not his, but did it really matter if he read a particular book because of his brother? It was true that he wanted them to be their own persons, but he also wanted to be part of Yuuki's world.

Before he knew it, Chizuru was pulling him by the hand, rushing out of the house to the nearest convenience store to try his luck at a gashapon machine. Truly, a force of nature, as well as a very good friend.

"Hey, Chizuru, do you think Yuuki has outgrown his need for his big brother?" Yuuta asked.

Chizuru stuck some coins in the gashapon machine, turning the handle. As a capsule tumbled down, Chizuru absentmindedly answered, "Yukki? Never!"

Then, Chizuru held out the capsule he had just gotten, an infectious grin on his face. "A token of our friendship, Yuutan!"

"Ahhhh," Yuuki said that evening, letting the revolving fan blow right at his face, his voice distorted by the fan. The sun was setting, yet it was still so hot. At least, the fan made it a little better, and he didn't even need to move his hands. This was why electric fans were the best. Oh, but he was supposed to put in more effort...

"Don't hog the fan to yourself," Yuuta said.

For a moment, Yuuki didn't respond. He glanced at his brother. Effort, he reminded himself. He turned back to the fan, reluctant to part with it, muttering, "But it's so hot..."

Still, he was about to move when Yuuta said, "Isn't there a new book today? Go mooch off the bookstore's AC. They're still open."

Yuuki paused and considered it. "Are you coming with me? I bet you've been stuck inside all day."

To Yuuki, that was a clear invitation he had just given.

"I haven't," Yuuta answered simply, shooting down Yuuki's invitation.

"Eh?"

"I went to the convenience store with Chizuru," Yuuta said.

"Oh." That was unexpected.

"He's a good friend."

"Don't let him hear that. His head will get as big as Kaname's," Yuuki immediately shot back.

Yuuta shook his head, instead saying, "Where were you? I thought you would be with Chizuru. He actually came to find you. But he left before you returned. Something about his grandma needing him back for dinner."

The cool air on his skin made Yuuki remember the day he had spent at Shun's place, fanning himself with a fan that had taken too much effort. But effort was important, wasn't it?

Yuuta hadn't thought he would spend his day hanging out with Chizuru, and he certainly hadn't thought Yuuki would spend his day hanging out with Shun. Kaname would have been his guess, since Chizuru was out.

However, Yuuki answered, "I was at Shun's."

"At Shun's?" Since when did Yuuki ever go over to Shun's place on his own?

"Yeah. We had ice cream. He's gonna come over to visit Piroro and Pororo," Yuuki said, a fond look on his face.

Huh. Yuuta supposed that when it came to his pet fish, Yuuki reminded him of Shun a lot, what with his talk of his goldfish being lonely without a companion, so it wasn't that surprising that they'd bond over the fish.

"So," Yuuki said, "Are you going to come with me to the bookstore?"

"No."

"No?" Yuuki pouted, giving Yuuta a full blast of Yuuki's pleading eyes. For a moment, Yuuta wondered what that lazy egg would look with eyes like these. Surely, it wouldn't be as cute.

"Fine," Yuuta relented and Yuuki finally moved out of the way of the fan. Yuuta got down, plopping in front of the fan. Yuuki immediately pounced on Yuuta, doing his utmost to squash him.

"Aren't we heading out yet?" Yuuta asked, hunched down with his little brother clinging onto him like a koala.

"In just a bit," Yuuki murmured, placing his chin on Yuuta's shoulder.

Yuuta couldn't really shake his head with Yuuki there, but he could run his fingers through Yuuki's hair, so he did that and even ruffled it up, much to Yuuki's displeasure. Yuuta bet Yuuki was pouting now. His handful of a little brother could sometimes be very cute.

They headed out to the bookstore, the evening sun casting long shadows behind them. This was their last summer before they were to graduate. Yuuta might grow taller than his brother. They might have different friends even when they shared them. They had always had different interests. But they would always be brothers, and they would always want to be close, even when their circle expanded or their interests differed.

Still, Yuuta thought as he watched Yuuki place the book back down, it was comforting that Yuuki would always be adamant about not buying the last book on the shelf.

When Yuuta let his feet fall behind, as Yuuki was clearly in his element and didn't need his big brother's input, Yuuki surprised him by looking back with a searching gaze, as if asking why Yuuta wasn't hurrying up.

Smiling, Yuuta caught up with his brother.

the end

A/N: I love the twins and their dynamics with each other and their friends. I hope you enjoyed this rambling piece. Happy New Year!