So, it's a little late for mother's day(which was when I got the idea)... but whatever.

It's gonna be a short two-shot. Ch1-My mother. Ch2-My brother.

The fic's in little Shuichi Hatanaka's POV, in case the summary didn't clue you in...

A mom. My mom.

That sounded weird.

Who did dad think he was, marrying another woman like that? Maybe I don't remember my mom. Maybe I don't even have memories of being with her, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to replace her!

Or at least those were my thoughts before I met her.

Shiori… was nice. She didn't care how much I resented her when I walked through her doors. I screamed at her… she was patient. I swore at her… she gave me a mild chiding. I snarled, I hissed, I spat. And her... she just gave me a forever, unwavering smile.

And then I lost it. That clench in my heart that I tried so hard to ignore broke free. Tears swelled up in my eyes before I knew it.

Suddenly, I knew I was wrong. I knew what I was missing all those times. That hole in my chest that forced me to act out; to rebel in school, against my father, against my teachers. That was all so a mother - my mother; someone mother-like - would come and lecture me.

I hated life. I hated my friends. I hated meeting new people. …no, those were just stupid excuses. I hated the jealousy in my heart - that burning rage at seeing everyone happy.

How can we as humans walk around with smiles on our faces when every second there's someone on this planet dying? Is already dead? Are we such selfish creatures?

I resented them. I resented them all.

They weren't like me. They knew nothing about life - immature babies imitating adults; thinking they knew the world. Me, I was different. Someone I knew died. I experienced something none of them had.

None of them knew what life really was. …no … lies… Those were all lies.

Scoffing at them, distancing myself from them, pretending I was superior to them … lies didn't help. Every time I looked at my friends with their parents, my chest clenched. It hurt.

It wasn't anger, it was jealousy. I was jealous they had something I could never experience. It was ripped away from me before I had the chance to even cherish what little it was.

I wanted a mother's unconditional love.

I wanted someone by me, listening to me, hugging me, cheering me up a way no father could. That instinctual way of loving that only a mother could bring was missing from my life. I wanted a mother. ...Want? No, it was more than that... I needed a mother.

Her face. Her love. Her laugher. Her comfort. Her protection. Why couldn't someone give me that? Why was I all alone?

Life was unfair - it hated me so. So I gave up right with it. -But then it suddenly all changed.

And now, I got a mother. Or rather, she got me.

My world flipped upside-down. Love-Hate? Hate-Love? Everything was different now. My heart finally felt whole. Everything suddenly seemed so much clearer.

Perhaps now I can finally stop lying to myself; lying to father. I can be happy. Be proud. And live a happy life.

Forever. Together.

And this time I knew how to treasure my mother proper. And I won't need to hold back my tears either, because mother... she'll always be there for me, and only me. And I know she'll always care.