Big brother has always been different.
He would always read faster than anyone else I knew, even Mother and Father. He had been reading faster than them when he was 4, and by the time he was 6 had read all the books in our house and the closest library.
The studying set-up he owned looked like something straight out of a movie. Six screens and a beast of a pc hidden underneath the desk. He would be constantly reading off of all of them; eyes flickering, back and forth. He also never forgot anything that he read, saw, or heard. He was the perfect tool for Mom.
I blame her for bringing him into that law firm for the first time. He must have only been eight but he got bored waiting for Mom at her desk and began reading through her case files. By the time she had finished with the meeting and come back to collect him, he had compiled three various defenses for each of her five clients along with the most likely attack options the opposing lawyer was going to use when prosecuting. That was really when the trouble started, suddenly he was being given a laptop and emailed cases by Mom.
Whenever he wasn't taking care of me he would be reading through some legal document or other. The most time she ever spent with him was in a professional capacity. Dad loved software engineering and would leave early and stay late every day.
To me, Hachiman Hikigaya was still just my foolish big brother but to the rest of the world, he became something more. He was touted as the ultimate courtroom superweapon, a living database that could intake information and mount masterful defenses or prosecutions. He wasn't a big brother or a young boy in their eyes. He was just an effective tool.
He still took care of me and cooked for me and groused when I woke up in the morning. But there was a feeling of separation between the two of us that never lessened. I never really knew what to ask him and he was never eager to share details of that part of his life with me. But at least he seemed happy with the situation until suddenly he wasn't. He came home one day with red eyes and a scratchy voice, he had cried in his room that night when he thought I was asleep and by the next month had orchestrated himself a transfer into shuuchin academy. He never talked about it to me despite every time I asked all he ever said was, 'I want to attend somewhere that challenges me academically and Shuuchin Gakuen seems an apt place to do it.'
He clearly didn't want to talk about what had pushed him away from his last year at the local middle school, so I let it be. For a while again he seemed happy. He talked about another boy with also scary eyes who was righteous and kind and who he looked up to. A bubbly girl he called a moron but whose antics always made him crack a smile. A girl with ruby red eyes and raven hair with a glare that could crush you flat. A depressed lonely boy and an unpopular righteous girl, all of which he said would be a good fit for the student council.
When he started to become happier was when I knew that for all my talk of being a great little sister I had been the rotten one after all. Because I hated that he went to that school, that he would always be gone in the morning, leaving behind a neat and tasty bento along with a nutritious breakfast. Then he would arrive home just after me and rush into cooking dinner. I hated with all my heart that school and whoever made him want to go there in the first place. No matter how many accomplishments he amassed I just wanted him home with me. He had been my primary caretaker since he was ten. I miss the days when I was my big brother's world.
That's why I couldn't look at him the night he arrived home and told me he had quit. That he would attend a local school within biking distance. I had simply stood up and walked to my room. When the door was locked I squealed into my pillow. I would finally have my big brother back; he would be here when I woke up and back before I got home. It was perfect.
Even the blowout fight he had with my parents when they got home didn't dampen my mood. Though it did wake me up.
"Don't talk to your mother that way." My father roared.
"Don't start acting like parents now, to hell with both of you." My brother matched his fervor
"I don't understand why you would do this." My mother.
"It doesn't matter, the transfer is already completed. I'm starting at Sobu tomorrow." My brother.
"Well maybe if I make some calls." My mom interjected.
My sibling laughed derisively, "We both know you can't do that. If I don't want to attend then I won't. End of discussion."
Crack!
The sound of flesh meeting flesh, hard.
My Mom's gasp, "Eicchi, stop it, please." I could hear the tears in her voice.
My brother's voice was cold, calculating, and detached. "Well now, since that's settled I'm going to bed. Night!."
His steps fell lightly up the stairs and he paused in front of my locked door. "Sorry for keeping you awake." I didn't respond but he continued anyway. "I know you probably want to attend Shuuchin and we can still make that happen. I have enough favors owed so don't worry about that."
Stupid Gomi-chan, I don't want to attend some stuck-up school. Honestly, he can just be so dense. Though, I smiled anyway. I love him even when he's stupid or the rare times that he's smart.
I am looking forward to tomorrow.