Sun and Star
Similarities

"Takashi…"

Shiro startled, noting how Keith uncharacteristically used his real name. The older of the two siblings sat at the foot of the bed provided for them in their room at Mount Justice, slowly eating his breakfast. Looking up at Keith, it was easy to see that the younger hero hadn't touched his food, leaving it in the same state as when Shiro brought their food into the room. "Yes?"

"Mom came up."

"How? How did she come up?"

"Robin asked if I believed that aliens exist."

"And you told him mom's an alien?" Shiro let out a sigh, picking at his food. The subject of their mother was, even without Keith bringing up the idea of her being an alien, a very sensitive topic. Nobody in the family enjoyed talking about her, unless it was secretive gossip, and pointed fingers. Those with answers were simply too polite to talk, and those without made up all sorts of rumors.

And that honestly included Keith, though in truth Keith believed what he said, for some strange reason. "Yes."

"Okay. We've had this discussion before, that you shouldn't be going and telling people that. Do you know why?"

"Ryo doesn't want to rescue me from the other kids when I embarrass him, but also says I'm not his brother."

The corner of Shiro's mouth twitched. "Well, that's sort of why."

Keith looked away. "He asked why I think that."

Shiro's eyes blinked, unsure where the conversation was going, let alone what Keith was talking about. "He?"

"Robin. He's was making fun of me, just like everyone else does. I think. I'm not sure."

A deep breath escaped his mouth. "I don't think he is." Shiro watched Keith's mouth form a pout. "See, he asked why you thought that, didn't he?"

"Well, yes."

"And he didn't outright say you were wrong, right?"

"But he was thinking it. Everyone does. Even you."

Shiro took a deep breath. "I don't exactly understand why you think mom's an alien, that is true. I don't believe she's an alien like you do either, but I don't think it's fair to say that I think you're wrong. I mean, Superman's an alien, but he looks very human, and I don't really know much about her. But she may not be an alien either."

"Some guy on television said Superman's not an alien, but some kind of government experiment."

"I don't know what to say about that, honestly. I'm not exactly fond of Superman. He's kind of a busybody."

"Is Superboy also a busybody."

Shiro took a deep breath, his fingers tapping his leg. "So, you know how you don't like being compared to Ryo because you two aren't the same person despite the fact you two are twins."

"We're not twins, let alone brothers. Ryo said so."

"Okay. Let's say you were. Do you think it would be right to compare you two and treat you as the same person?"

"No."

"Then don't do it for Superboy, okay."

"Got it." Keith picked at his food. "What if I mess up? That one guy hasn't been back."

"That one guy hasn't been back because he's a jerk, and full of himself."

"That's not a nice thing to say."

"You're correct. I don't know him, so I shouldn't assume. Still…" Shiro set his chopsticks down. "He threw a major fit because he thinks the adults are treating us like kids, rather than giving us more responsibility."

"Well, I can't blame them. I mean, I tend to mess things up."

"Keith…"

"Well, I do."

"You do realize that by living here at Mount Justice, grandfather's given us a lot of responsibility."

Keith's mouth moved, frowning as he did so. He began to poke the fish with his chopsticks. "I'm not hungry."

"Okay." Shiro scooped up the plates and headed into the kitchen. He started to scrape off the extra food, only for Kid Flash to hurry over and grab Keith's leftovers.

"I'll take that." He began to shovel food into his mouth, not caring that someone else had eaten off the plate. Shiro wasn't sure what to think, and simply began to wash the plates to put them away while everyone watched.

Wally frowned. "So, what are we going to do now?"

Shiro's eyes blinked. "Um… I don't know. The adults haven't exactly given us an order, have they?

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Keith wander in, watching everyone carefully. Robin let out a sigh, leaning over the table. "I am so bored. I'd be doing a whole lot more back home."

"Unfortunately, our trainer isn't here, nor is Red Tornado yet, so we must occupy ourselves." Aqualad piped up.

Shiro frowned, unsure of how to react to the other teens. What might be an appropriate activity for him and Keith may not be enjoyable to the other sidekicks. His eyes blinked, looking around for his younger brother. Except, Keith wasn't there. As quickly as Keith wandered in, he'd wandered back out, which meant like Robin he was bored. "Oh-oh."

"What does oh-oh mean?" Superboy frowned. He seemed to have a perpetual frown.

"Shiribasuta's gone."

"He was even here?" Kid Flash's eyes blinked. "Are you telling me that he's got ninja stealth like Robin does?"

This comment from Kid Flash seemed to perk Robin's attention. Inwardly, Shiro couldn't help but grimace at the idea of having to Keith's running around, though, on the positive side, Robin definitely seemed a whole lot more social than Keith was.

"Is this a bad thing?"

Shiro's mouth twisted into a frown. "I don't know. I wouldn't say that he's got a knack for getting into trouble, but that trouble finds him."

Unfortunately, both Aqualad and Kid Flash looked right at Robin. The thirteen-year-old frowned. "What?"

Kid Flash turned back to Shiro, a wide smirk on his face. "What kind of trouble could Star get into? I mean, we're here in Mount Justice. It is like, the most boring place in the world." The smile turned into a frown. "Okay. Forming a team, so not the experience I was hoping for."

"Well, if Star wants to play hide and seek, I'm all for it."

Aqualad frowned. "This makes me feel that Roy was right. That we're only here to keep us out of trouble, doing children's activities, rather than any serious training."

Shiro frowned. "I don't think he's right, but I also don't understand why he walked out like he did."

Kid Flash glanced over to Aqualad. "Well, Roy is Roy. He's kind of hard to explain, outside of the fact he's got a temper on him. He's also eighteen, the oldest of us, so I guess he's upset that he's not being treated like an adult, as he is one"

"In Japan, we're not considered an adult until we turn twenty."

Kid Flash's eyes blinked. "Wait. You guys have to wait two more years to be considered adults? That's wrong?"

"In Atlantis, it is actually much longer than that, but then again, an Atlantian is not considered an adult until after their mentorship has ended."

Laughter suddenly echoed through the room, making Kid Flash and Aqualad look at each other, while Superboy's eyes went wide. Kid Flash cleared his throat. "Wait. Where's Rob?"

Shiro took a deep breath, realizing that Kid Flash meant that Rob had taken off as well. The only difference was, Rob wasn't exactly silent about his leaving, yet he still did it with ninja-like stealth. So far, trouble seemed unavoidable.