Finally got my laptop back.

-Day 23: Comfort -

8:49 pm

Raven Castle.

Misaki sat by her vanity brushing her shoulder-length raven hair into a ponytail. She had just sent on out the last email for work after a tiring day of completing projects. She was behind on work due to the recent death of Richard Ranchester and had to use the whole day to finish off past projects and begin projects for the next few days so she could focus on being by Takumi's side and even Geralds side at this time.

It had been three days since Richard had passed on and the Raven castle carried a very dull atmosphere. Many of the workers really admired him and they were pained by his passing. The public was still mourning his death and reaching out to offer kind words to Takumi and Gerald.

As much as Richard wasn't her favorite person in the world, she was still affected by his death. Deep down she had hoped to possibly make him warm up to her. She hoped that Takumi and his grandfather would have fixed their problems but that was out the window now.

Misaki looked to her side to see Takumi approaching the vanity. He smiled and placed a small kiss on her forehead. "Don't wait up for me, I'll be back."

She turned around slightly watching him head towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"To chat with my brother," He said opening the door to walk out then closed it. Takumi made his way to his grandfather's old office where he knew Gerald was working his self away.

It seemed everyone was keeping themselves busy to avoid speaking about the current situation. Takumi was not close to Richard but his brother was. He knew Gerald was close to Richard who helped raised him after his mother died.

Takumi had been trying to think of how to approach his brother. They were slowly bonding but yet Takumi didn't know what would be the right words to say to his brother right now. After thinking long and hard about it for a day he decided it was best to take the first step in seeing how he was doing.

They couldn't hide behind work forever.

When he reached the office he knocked to hear Gerald say, "I said I don't want to be bothered."

Still, he opened the door and entered.

"Did you not hear me," Gerald looked up and paused when he saw Takumi. He was a little taken aback seeing his brother. "Oh. Do you need anything?"

"As your doctor, I recommend you rest," Takumi stated, slowly walking towards the desk Gerald sat behind.

"There's a lot to be done," Gerald sighed leaning back into the large chair. He had to handle his work and try to gather all the work his grandfather was doing. He also managed the raven castle now. "I can't rest."

"You'll make your body weak," Takumi said standing in front of the desk.

"I'm fine," Gerald said in a low tone.

"You're not fine. Grandfather passed away and you-"

Gerald cut Takumi off slamming his hand down on the desk, pushing back the chair and standing up, "I said I am fine! You never cared grandfather and vice versa. Why do you care? Leave me alone, I want to be alone."

"I care about how my brother is doing," Takumi said truthfully. "I care to not make you be alone at a time like this. No, I didn't care for grandfather but I know how important he was to you. I thought maybe you would want some space after the funeral but after some thinking, I realize you shouldn't be alone at a time like this. I was wrong for not coming sooner to ask how are you doing Gerald?"

Gerald clenched his fist as his body trembled. Of course, he didn't want to be alone but he wasn't raised to ask others to be by his side. He was still a product of Richard and pride was hard to change. Some walls were hard to break down alone and you needed some help.

"Grandfather is gone," Gerald whispered as tears left his eyes. "Mother is gone, grandfather is gone. They're all leaving one by one."

Takumi proceeded to walk around the desk to hug Gerald who didn't resist.

Gerald didn't hug Takumi back but continued to cry and show his vulnerable side for a short moment. After minutes passed Gerald spoke, "You know I'm your older brother right? If you don't make me do this for you one day I'll disregard this moment."

Takumi smiled at his words."Suit yourself, older brother."

A/N: Next chapter Wednesday.

Next Chapter: -Day 24: Misaki and Geralds day out-

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