A/N: THIS IS NOT AN INCEST FIC FUCK OFF

oOo

"C'mon sis, don't you think you're exaggerating a little?"

"Easy for you to say! You're not the one the one who was chucked head-first into mud!" It almost seemed like the more she wiped away, the dirtier her fur and clothes became; it made Yin shudder in disgust as they walked their way home. "I swear, when I get my hands on Zarnot-!"

"Not like he'll show his face again for a while after the beatdown I gave him!" Yin grit her teeth as her brother's chop nearly hit her in the nose, but Yang was too busy gloating to notice. "I was like BAM! And then I was like POW! And he was like 'Boo hoo, please don't hurt me Yang, you're so strong and cool-!'"

"That's not what happened."

"That's totally what happened! You were probably still stuck in the mud." Yang wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulders, oblivious to the way she tried to squirm away out of annoyance. "Seriously, you should've seen the way I sent that bunch of cheap plastic crying!"

Then he poked her in the cheek. "You're welcome, by the way."

In that moment, Yang expected his sister to answer with a snarky remark of her own, or even to fling some mud in his face - which would give him the perfect excuse for a mud war, so either way he won. But right at the moment they arrived at the dojo's doorway, what he got instead was a harsh and not at all playful shove, sucking air through teeth as pain suddenly stung his knees.

"Thanks a lot, Yang." He flinched at the genuine venom in Yin's words, still reeling from both the shock and pain of his fall. By the time he looked back at her, she was already closing the door behind her without so much a backwards glance.

"HEY! What was that for!?" His legs trembled, but Yang refused to show how upset he was and chose to hide it with anger instead; "That hurt, you know! YIN!"

He stayed looking at the door for a while, thinking (hoping) that she'd come back and apologize, that she didn't mean it. But she didn't, and he just stood there, staring at the closed door and struggling to keep his frustrated tears from falling.

He had messed up. Again.

—

When he entered their room with the first aid kit in hand, she was already back on her bed writing on a notebook, already showered and in a new gi. She didn't even look up when the door opened; it hurt, but he wasn't about to let her know that. If she wanted to go with the silent treatment, two could play that game.

Closing the door loudly behind him, Yang wobbled his way to his own bed across from hers; the scraped on his knees couldn't be that deep, but they sure stung. He opened the kit and took out the bandages before sloppily wrapping them around his knees; he didn't know the first thing about first aid, but he didn't want to ask Master Yo for help and get him involved.

Nope, this was between him and his sister. Whatever this was.

Every once in a while, he glanced in Yin's direction, and every time she still kept her gaze on her writing and never at him. It only made him angrier, so he tried to catch her attention by coughing loudly and kicking on his bedframe to break her concentration. It still didn't work.

Forget the silent treatment.

"I'm gonna tell Master Yo you pushed me and he's gonna ground you."

Nothing.

"For like, a whole month."

Still nothing.

"And I'm gonna tell him to take away your Twonicorn dolls too, and then I'm gonna chop all their hair off!"

That made her stop writing for a moment, knuckles turning white as she tightened her grip on her pencil. But just when Yang thought she'd reply, she just…kept writing.

Growling, Yang kicked the aid kit off his bed, alcohol bottles and cotton swabs flying everywhere. "What's wrong with you!? Why did you push me like that!? What'd I do!?"

"What did you do!?" Yang nearly jumped out of the bed, not sure if because of how loud Yin yelled at him or how loud she closed her journal; "Gee Yang, what don't you ever do!? It's always about you, you, YOU! How great you are, saving poor, helpless Yin from danger-!"

"Are you serious!? You're mad at me over the fight with Zarnot!?" Yang was now kneeling on the edge of his bed, leaning on the bed framed as he glared in astonishment at his twin; he had wrapped too many bandages and only on one knee so it still felt painful and awkward, but he didn't care; "Excuse ME for saving your life!"

"I don't need you saving my life! I'm not a baby!" The first pillow Yin threw he managed to dodge, but the second one nearly threw him backwards; "And as soon as the danger's over, you go back to acting like I embarrass you just by being in the same room! So don't act like you do it because you care!"

"What?" Yang had been ready to throw her pillows back at her, but those last lines made him freeze in place like a deer caught in headlights. Usually, he would've remained silent or changed the subject out of pride, but the words came out anyways: "But…but I do care."

"You sure have a funny way of showing it-" Oh no, was she crying? Why was she crying? She kept rubbing her eyes and looking away, but Yang had already seen the tears rolling down. "A-always making fun of me when I'm in trouble, then sweeping in to save me and then act like nothing even happened! If I'm such a bother to you, maybe I should do you a favor and disappear!"

Disappear.

Disappear.

Yin being absorbed by her Aura. Yin being corrupted by Coop. Yin nearly being torn to shreds by C.H.A.D. Yin and Master Yo being burned to ashes by the Night Mooster.

Yin nearly dying after losing her Aura when it should've been him-

"Yang?"

Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The anger was gone from her face, but why did she look so worried instead? Why did she-

Oh.

His face felt wet.

"Yang?" Yin jumped out of her bed and was by his side in record time, her hands on his shoulders. "H-hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it! Y-you know I didn't mean it-"

"I didn't mean it either." His voice was so quiet, so afraid. He hated it. Yet he couldn't make it stop. He couldn't make the words gushing out of him stop; "I n-never mean to hurt you, b-but I just keep doing it over and over anyways, and each time it's worse, but I don't wanna t-think about it so I try to forget, a-and, and-"

Yin didn't let him finish; she wrapped her arms around him tightly in a hug. And somehow, that was enough. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug of his own, and they stayed like that in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"….do you remember when we still lived on the streets?"

Yin pulled away from their hug, making an uncomfortable face. Neither of them really talked about their time as street urchins for multiple reasons, even when it had been barely a year before; it was an unspoken agreement between the twins. Still, she silently nodded.

"You looked after the two of us. Even though we were just little kids, even though it was really hard for you." Yang muttered, his hands balling into fists. "All while I couldn't do anything, except being a crybaby. I hated it. I told myself I wouldn't be like that, so you wouldn't get hurt anymore." Pellets, his eyes were getting wet again; "B-but I still keep finding ways to hurt you, a-and then acting like I don't care even though I do-"

"You big dummy." It was Yin who wiped his tears this time. "Why'd you keep quiet? We're supposed to be a team…" A beat of silence. "We're still a team…aren't we?"

"Always." And Yang, terrible with his feelings as he was, had never felt as strongly as he did in that moment, as he hugged his sister like his life depended on it. "We promised."

Another moment of silence, besides the occasional sniffling between the two of them, and finally they broke away from their hug. Yin took a look at Yang's one bandaged knee and snorted even though her eyes were still damp. "Your knee looks like you surgically attached a turtle mummy to it."

Yang couldn't help but smiling as well; "You make it sound like that's not the coolest thing you could ever do with a turtle mummy."

"Pretty sure there are higher things on the list." Yin got off the bed, heading for the door; "I'm gonna go get Master Yo."

Halfway through opening the door, she froze, and for a second Yang feared something was wrong again. But he was taken away by a third hug from his sister. "I'm sorry about pushing you."

"…..I probably deserved it."

A punch to his arm - but definitely playful this time; "Don't say that. Now stay put while I get Master Yo, and do NOT touch the bandages anymore. Your turtle mummy doesn't need a roommate."

And with that, she was gone, closing the door behind her. Yang released the breath he didn't know he had been holding, and leaned back against his bed, suddenly feeling very exhausted.

The pain on his knees was still somewhat there, but at least the same couldn't be said for the weight in his chest.