Definitely haven't forgotten about good ol' Shin-Shin ;)))

We still have a long way to go after all.

Just to clarify, Shintaro's birthday is on April 30th (Momo's birthday is on February 14.)

Disclaimer: Siht nwo t'nod I.


With a slightly lighter heart, Shintaro could also rememberwhen life began to adjust itself back together.


Little by little their family began to move again. To feel again. Dare he say, to live again.

Kaa-san began using more off time and breaks (things Shintaro had been sure she had forgotten existed) to spend time with them. Of course, she was tired during most of that time and was still latched onto her jobs as if they were lifelines. But Shintaro knew now more than ever to count the blessings they still had: any spare moment kaa-san choose to share with them instead of crying by herself was treasured.

Both he and Momo were grateful; it made eating their gradually less-bland dinners together more bearable, even if it was usually only for three or four days out of a week and the fourth chair remained unchangingly empty.

What had changed and did become empty, however, was the fireplace mantle.

Momo had insisted to Shintaro that he should never take the scarf off, even during school.

"You need some heroic red on you too, onii-chan!" She had (sloppily) muffled the scarf around her brother's neck and held a happy thumbs up.

Their mother only smiled wistfully ('Just go along with it Shintaro') and properly re-wrapped it around her son's neck once Momo was out of sight.

Shintaro was never one to let a person down, let alone his sister, so go along with it he did. To his own bewilderment, he found that the scarf indeed had some power to it, just as his father has said.

Like magic (which he was only possibly starting to believe in due to Momo's shiny new ability), he began to feel calmer. Steadier. Not yet happy. Definitely not heroic. But... better.

So day in and day out, he spent his time at school tugging at the bittersweet strip of red, struggling to have it fit around him better while he wrote page after page of notes and essays.

It was amazing how his grades hadn't dropped in the slightest, considering all that had happened. Days after their family's little impromptu intervention, it had been his turn to stay after class to clean up the room. Whilst he was stacking up the chairs, he'd heard some teachers gossiping outside the classroom door as if he wasn't paying attention to absolutely everything around him.

"I can't believe Shintaro-kun has scored top in your class again. Seriously, how do you do it? How does he do it?"

"I have no idea, to be honest. He's always been the brightest student in the room and not even the recent, eh, event in his family has seemed to faze him in the slightest. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I might even say that his focus seems to have improved!"

"That's incredible. Wish we had more students like him, our school's reputation would probably skyrocket. Just imagine all the bonuses we'd receive!"

"That's the dream, isn't it now. Well, the only problematic thing I can think of would have to be that scarf he's been toting around lately. It might not be the healthiest thing for him right now... but really, if he's only becoming an even better student there's not really any need to worry."

"Y'know I'm gonna sound like an awful person for saying this, but with all things considered, at least there were some positives to come out of Kisaragi-san kicking the bucket so soon-"

By then Shintaro had opened the door and announced that he was finished cleaning. "See you next week, sensei." Hurrying past the two startled adults, twin red tails fluttering behind him, he wondered if they would notice the last few chairs he had 'forgotten' to stack. Maybe I'll fail the science quiz next week, maybe the English test too, Shintaro mused just a smidge angrily, although it only took one thought of kaa-san's stern face for him to know that he wouldn't go through with it. Regardless, he didn't have such a high respect for the teachers anymore and would definitely find some way to communicate it to them fully.

Somehow it took less work to get the other children to understand.

"Hey, Kisaragi! What's with the scarf?" they had jeered and pointed earlier that same day, a full week after he had started wearing it. He had looked up blankly from sharpening his pencils.

"Hmm?"

"You look lame. You think it's Hallowe'en or something?" They had laughed, shrilly and loudly. Annoyingly.

"No," he said honestly.

"Then why are you wearing it? It's getting too warm for scarves." They had sounded irritated. Shintaro had felt irritated. He really hadn't wanted to have to explain this.

"It belonged to my father."

"Huh? Oh... oh."

That had been the end of that; no more questions were asked of him. Perhaps his classmates weren't so cruel after all. Definitely better than that girl from Momo's class. He had taken care of that problem too, though.

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!" Momo had come running to him after he had put on his coat after his half-hearted cleaning and was beginning to walk to her classroom.

"Momo, what happened? I thought I was the one coming to pick you up from class today." Her eyes were normal and coal-colored which left Shintaro grateful; she wouldn't be coming over with her growing litter of new friends.

She could hardly contain her jubilation. "You were right, onii-chan! Like you're right about everything! This power isn't a curse; it's a gift!" Momo skipped around her older brother, making him dizzy.

"Sensei used to ignore me in class before, but now she's always praising my work and calling me up to talk. All the kids are being nice to me. Everyone wants to be my friend!" Her voice soared with glee. "You remember the girl who called me a monster before? She told me my eyes were pretty today, while I was using my power!"

"Really? I'm glad." He wasn't surprised either; for all his normal stoicism, he could be good with words and persuasion when he needed to be. The little talk he had had with the bratty girl had gotten through after all. He smiled softly and ruffled Momo's bangs. "She's right too."

His little sister laughed and swatted him before a look of remembrance struck her features. She reached behind her and swiped something out of her backpack. "And that's not even the best part; look!"

A piece of paper was then trusted up to his face. Shintaro read it quickly. "...you won your class's art competition?"

"Mmmhmm!" Momo bobbed her head up and down. "It was the picture of the red butterfly I made last week. Sensei and the whole class loved it. They're even going to write an article about it and put a picture of me in the next newspaper."

Shintaro's eyes lit up with astonishment, then pride. "This is amazing, Momo. Congratulations! I'm sure kaa-san will be proud." His steps began to mirror his younger sister's cheerful skip as they continued their trek out of the school.

Momo tilted her head. "Yeah..." However, her smile steadily shrunk down and her steps came to a halt.

"Do you- do you think that, maybe, if tou-san was here... he'd be proud too?"

Shintaro blinked twice. He reached out and clutched her hand firmly, even if it was only to distract her from the shake in his voice. "Yes. Definitely."

"Mmm..." She eyed the scarf hanging loosely around on her brother. He wondered if she was going to cry into it like last time. Just to be safe, he untied it around his neck and bundled it around hers. "It's your turn to wear it after making such a good drawing."

Her smile returned subtly. "Thanks, onii-chan." He sighed in relief when her grin came back fully and loudly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go home and show kaa-san my certificate!" She ran up ahead of him, scarf flapping behind her like a cape as she laughed out of the school doors. "You better watch out onii-chan! It's not all just gonna be about your perfect tests anymore. I'm gonna steal all the spotlight from you, you just watch!"

"We'll see about that!" he called to her as huffed and puffed trying to catch up, his own stamina becoming his enemy.

Once on board, they easily claimed the front seats of the completely empty bus, which made sense since they were the last ones out of school. Momo swung her legs up and down, humming a little tune.

"Hey, onii-chan? Are we going to do more 'secret power training' later?"

"Maybe not today, but tomorrow for sure. We'll have more time because of the weekend." Shintaro smoothed away a piece of loose hair on Momo's head, her side ponytail starting to slip off.

"Okay. More walking through crowds and seeing how many people notice me right?"

"That's the plan," his voice was muffled as he held her scrunchy in his mouth, then re-tying it in a swift move. "We'll try a bigger crowd this time."

"Uhn! I can't wait!" Her newly redone side tail fluttered up and down as she nodded. "I've been thinking though, onii-chan. Since we're an incredible, totally unstoppable duo, we need a super cool hero duo name right?"

Shintaro paused to entertain the idea, "Ah, I guess?" and brought a thoughtful look unto his features.

"Of course we do! We'll be heroes like you said! Oh oh, we'll be just like the heroes who fight bad guys on t.v.!" Momo began to gush over her own shounen-like fantasies. "We'll be called the- we'll be called the... uh, what should we be called?"

"Hah? It's your idea and you don't know?" Shintaro asked incredulously, which Momo answered with a mild flush. "Hmm, let's see..."

He pounded on his supposedly genius mind for a name. "Well, we're trying to help you control your power... to stop people from noticing you when you don't want them to..."

Shintaro pounded again and thought deeper. "In a sense, it's sort of like we're, trying to... blindfold people..."

More pounding.

Blindfold.

Hmm...

Shintaro snapped his fingers. "I've got it! How about 'Mekakushi'?"

"Meka...ruchi?" Momo played with the word on her tongue.

"It's mekakushi, actually," her brother tried to correct.

"Mekakana..."

"No Momo, mekaku-"

"It's PERFECT!" Momo announced in a voice that startled the bus driver a little. "From now on we're the Mekameka Duo!"

"You mean the Mekakushi Duo," Shintaro sighed and brought a finger to his lips to remind her to be polite and quiet.

Momo complied and disguised her shouts as whispers. "We start our official training and missions as a secret duo tomorrow. We'll almost be like spies or secret agents! Ahhhhh, it kinda sounds like a movie, don't you think? 'Releasing in 2200! The hair-raising story of the Mekakushi Duo going out to secretly save the city of uh, of-oh! To save Mekakucity from great peri!"

"Momo, that isn't what our city is called."

"Whatever, whatever it doesn't matter! All that matters is it how fun it'll be. How does it sound, onii-chan?"

"I guess it sounds like it could be a little fun, Mo- ah, agent Kisaragi Momo."

"I knew you'd be into it! You're the best onii-chan. Always have been!" Momo's face dipped into a satisfied smile and Shintaro instinctively mirrored her.

Even though walking around all day in the still relatively cold spring air was far from what he would normally prefer to do, it might as well have been his favorite thing in the world if it helped Momo out in any way.

Shintaro gazed out the seat window while simultaneously listening to Momo's new chatterings.

The snow on the ground outside was lessening, no doubt by the slightly increasing April warmth.

April... he'd be nine years old soon, and then ten, then eleven, and on and on it would go.

Shintaro peered further.

The setting sun looked beautiful. Calm. Orange.

This...

This was alright. Things were okay. And one day soon, maybe they'd be happy again. As long as they all tried to stay together, through sorrow and delight. Through it all.

Shintaro closed his eyes. Hmph. As hopeful as that sounded, he guessed in the end, it was really only a theory.

One that I'll practice over and over and over again, no matter how many times it takes to make it real...