Note: I wish to note this as being the first update to this story since season two aired. Also, the sense of time is off in this chapter, as it fits how Shiro remembers the events. In his mind, they within one day, but to the adults it happened over the course of a couple of weeks.

Aniki
Strictness of Adults

"What was Akira doing in your room again?"

"He's my little brother." Shiro found himself unable to look the adult in the eye, his small hands clenching together to form fists.

"Your studies regarding your duties as heir to the headship start today." The adult in front of him was quick to change the subject. "These include learning the family tree, the family's style of martial arts, as well as proper etiquette." The man looked at the floor, noting the four-year-old sprawled next to Shiro. "This includes having your brother taking his leave during your studies, as well as not sleeping with you at night."

"He's not doing anything wrong."

"He's a distraction."

"And what is he supposed to do."

Again, the adult didn't answer as Keith stared up at the ceiling. How long the four-year-old would stay still despite feeling bored. Shiro watched the man place papers in front of him and sighed. Keith sat up, looking at the chart. "What's that?"

"It's a family chart."

"Oh. What's that."

The eyebrow of the adult twitched. "It is something that charts one's family lineage."

"Oh. What is, family lineage?"

"That is who you are related to."

"Like all the mean people at the table?"

"Keith…" Shiro hissed, getting his brother to look at him.

"What?"

"Not something you're supposed to say."

"Oh." Keith then said something which at that point made complete sense. "Adults are boring, though, and that makes them mean and grumpy."

"Yes, it does."

The adult in charge of his lesson cleared their throat. "Please do not encourage him, young master."

Keith plopped over so his head now rested in Shiro's lap, and refused to move. In the meantime, Shiro found himself taking in the family chart, his mind hurting from trying to understand the entire thing. Slowly, the morning ticked away, and lunch came, meaning the books were taken away. By that time Keith had gotten up a dozen times, gotten in trouble with the items in the yard again, and managed to be chased by the servants for something else. Keith, of course, thought this was a game.

The younger of the two brothers followed willingly once he knew the food was coming, and sat down joyfully in front of the food, picking it up with his fingers when the chopsticks didn't work, telling everyone how yummy it was rather loudly. His mind remained occupied. Shiro took a deep breath. "So, when do I start school?"

"Soon. You do understand how you act at school will reflect on this family."

"Yes." Shiro looked over at Keith. "What about…"

"We're still deciding what is best for Akira."

"Keith!" Keith piped up, shoving more food into his mouth.

"This afternoon, your uncle wishes to start your martial arts training, although I think it is a tad early."

Shiro watched Keith perk up, his small hand shooting up into the air. "Me too! Me too!"

"It is most definitely too early for you." The old man's tone of voice indicated he found Keith's reaction frustrating. "Perhaps someday. Today, you may watch."

"Okay."

The older brother's eyes closed, and he pushed his food away. "I'm not hungry." Upon opening them, he saw how wide his brother's eyes were, and pushed them over, watching him make a mess. Shiro turned his head and watched his grandmother lift up her arm to cover her mouth. Her eyes seemed to twinkle.

The four sat there, waiting for something to happen other than Keith enjoying his food. What happened Shiro didn't like. Takeo Shirogane bowed in front of them, begging pardon for coming to retrieve the young master for his lesson in the dojo. With a nod from his grandfather, Shiro stood up and followed after. Keith noticed and knocked over his remaining food in his hurry to keep up.

Shiro watched Keith dart ahead, laughing as he did so, stopping to see which way they were going, but also running back when his energy got to be too much. Takeo glared at the boy. Upon arriving at the dojo, the man motioned for Shiro to sit, before explaining the process. The first step was changing into dogi, before moving onto the next step. "We'll start with hand to hand combat."

The seven-year-old listened, before stepping onto the mat and awkwardly mimicking the stance the man wanted him to take. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keith moving around the outside of the dojo, taking in the items on the wall. Eventually, the younger found some game to occupy himself with. Shiro remembered his father spending time with him on some of the things, and yet the pace went faster.

After some time, a slight sweat covered Shiro's body, and his uncle moved him onto more complicated moves despite the fact he didn't feel ready. He landed on his back, staring up at the ceiling, the air knocked out of his lungs. His uncle told him to get up, and as he did, he saw Keith standing in one spot, looking at him. Shiro got up, only to find himself getting knocked down again.

Keith screamed.

In a flash, his younger brother was flying across the room at Takeo Shirogane as Shiro watched. Keith's small hands grabbed their uncle's hand, pulling it into his mouth as the four-year-old's teeth bit down. Their uncle let out a curse and flinched as if he were going to backhand Keith, only to stop short. "Let go."

Tears welled in Keith's eyes, and he refused to let go, forcing their uncle to get down on one knee. The man proceeded to pry the child's mouth open so he could extract his hand, and then his fingers latched onto Keith's ear. More tears spilled out of the child's eyes, and Keith was screaming again, trying to pull away. "Enough!"

"You were hurting my nii-chan!"

"Remain here Takashi."

"If you're going to…"

"I am not. I can not, though, have him interfering with your lessons." The man went away and came back without Keith. "We can begin again."

"Where's Keith."

"He's with the family head." The man motioned for Shiro to continue. The lessons were painful, but the routine was also much different from the life the seven-year-old remembered having before his parents died. The fun and games were gone, but so were the familiar touches. He kept going, finding himself out of breath and on the floor by the time the man finally called an end. "You did well."

"Good, because it is about time for the evening meal."

Shiro twisted his head around and saw Keith peeking from behind the old man. The child darted out, running towards him, his small arms outstretched. Upon arriving near Shiro, Keith collapsed on top of him, burying his head into his older brother's chest. "Hey…" When he didn't respond, Shiro weakly lifted up his arm. "Keith?"

The child looked up his mouth in a pout. "You're hurt."

"I'm okay." Shiro's eyes narrowed, wondering exactly what was going on in Keith's mind when his younger brother kissed him. The seven-year-old gagged and turned over. "Akira! What are you doing!"

Keith was sitting up. "What mommy does?"

"What…" The seven-year-old wiped his mouth.

"When we're hurt, or sick, or when she just wants to be a mommy."

"Uh…" Shiro glanced over at his grandfather, realizing that this action hadn't gone over well.

"I would appreciate if you joined us for dinner Takeo. There are some things we need to discuss."

The seven-year-old felt his younger brother's fingers wrap around his doji outfit before he proceeded to change. Keith clung to him as they headed to dinner, and they took their seat. At first, Keith didn't eat, and instead picked at his food. Their grandfather spoke up rather candidly. "I want you to slow down Takashi's training slightly. While your brother did teach him the basics, his body isn't used to the strain. There is a difference between training and abuse."

"Understood." Takeo glanced over at Keith. "What about the younger one?"

"Akira." The older man looked over at Keith.

"There are two of my wife's brothers who would like to take him in."

Shiro flinched, his chopsticks dropping to the floor. "Wait. You're going to separate us?"

"We're going to do what is best for the two of you."

"Yes, but…" Shiro glanced over at Keith, who seemed to have forgotten the scare, let alone the fact Takeo was in the room. "Isn't one of the things you've been trying to teach me a duty to one's family? Isn't my duty to Keith."

"Akira…" Takeo sighed. "I don't understand why you boys insist on these nicknames for each other."

Shiro watched his grandfather sigh. "Yes, well, you are correct about the duty issue. However, it is our duty, as the elders of this family to see both of you boys are taken care of." The man watched him carefully. "I know that you don't trust us yet, but hopefully you'll come to do so. Trust, it is a very important element of forming bonds Takashi."

"You've not exactly done things to foster trust with either one of us, and while Keith may seem like he's far more trusting than me, he's not. He's worse."

"Why don't you two go and play."

"Play?" Keith's head shot up, and he dashed out. Shiro followed after, not liking the fact the adults were talking without them. The youngest of the two brothers, of course, found something to climb. This time, it was a tree.

"Keith, come down before you hurt yourself."

The four-year-old peered down. "Shiro? Why you sad?"

"Akira, I promise I'll do everything I can to prevent them from separating us."

"What does that mean?"

Shiro sighed, not liking the fact his younger brother didn't understand certain concepts. "Just, when, I mean, if… if it does happen, know that I don't want it. That I'll do everything to make sure we're back together."

"Are you going away?"

"What?"

"Like mommy and daddy?"

"No. Not like them, but maybe away."

"You'll come back to."

"Akira…"

"Keith…"

"I love you, Keith."

"I love you even more!"

Shiro felt the corner of his mouth twist up, a little bit of hope sinking in before he climbed up into the tree with his brother. He watched for adults, not at all sure what would happen. Eventually, a servant came out. "Young master…" The older of the two brothers looked down. "It is time for you and your brother to be heading to bed."

"Oh…" Shiro's eyes opened and closed, realizing they'd managed to sit in the tree for a long time. Without realizing it, Keith slipped from the tree branch, dropping to the ground. The seven-year-old winced at the sound of Keith landing, before climbing down to check on his brother. Keith's eyes went wide as he sat on his bottom. Finally, the pain in his foot registered, and he started crying.

"Young sir…" The servant seemed frantic, glancing around. Shiro watched as Takeo Shirogane came, a sound of irritation escaping his mouth as he scooped Keith up.

"Take the young master to his room, and see to it that he prepares for bed."

Shiro felt his mouth push together, confused. Takeo lifted the child up. Keith attempted to kick and hit as tears fell down his face. One leg obviously hurt. "He'll be alright."

The seven-year-old found himself led away by a servant before finding himself tucked into bed. He waited, hoping Keith would come like he had the other nights, but nothing came of the matter. Standing up, he slid the door open, feeling the chill night breeze on his skin. He started walking, hoping to find his younger brother. The sound of crying was heard, and Shiro headed to the sound.

He came across a locked door, hearing Keith's sobs coming from the other side of the locked door. "Keith."

"Shiro!"

"What are you doing in there?"

"They're mean! I want Shiro!"

"I know." The seven-year-old pushed at the wooden bar but found it too heavy. "I can't get in." The only option was to sit outside, his arms crossed. He tilted his head. "I can't in."

"Shiro!"

"I'll stay right here, though." A puff of air escaped his mouth. "You okay."

"No! I want Shiro!"

"Shiro's here. Is this your room?"

A silence came from the other side. "Don't know."

"But there's a bed in there?"

"Yes.

"What did uncle say?"

"Don't know."

"You don't know? Is there any words he said that you recognized?"

"Safe?"

Shiro sighed, wondering what was going on in the minds of the adults, to lock up a child like this. "So, what's it like inside there?"

"Boring."

"Oh." Shiro's head nodded. "Hey, why don't you tell me what you think happens next in Gundam?"

"Okay." Keith started to rattle on, having forgotten about the pain he was in, or the fact Shiro was outside. The seven-year-old remained, hating the nasty twist to his life his parents' death provided. His entire body started going numb, and while he spoke up every so often, Keith didn't seem to notice something was wrong, as he couldn't see Shiro.

He did, however, hear the servants start to yell. "I can't find the young master. He isn't in his room!"

"What do you mean?"

"Apologies, Lord Takeo. I went to fetch him for breakfast, and then his morning lesson, so he was prepared when he started at his new school, but he wasn't there."

Shiro then heard footsteps as his uncle came hurtling towards his brother's room. The man leaned over. "Takashi…"

The next thing he knew, he was being lifted up and carried away. His uncle placed him on the futon, barking out orders. He then heard Keith screaming, calling out his name. Shiro staggered to his feet, stumbling out after his brother. Everything was in a fog, but he froze upon seeing two strangers holding onto Keith, who was sobbing. His brother reached out for him, small fingers stretching. "Nii-nii!"

"Keith…"

His grandfather held out his hand, preventing him from rescuing his brother from the clutches of the strangers who were piling him into the car. The adults were saying something he couldn't make out, as he suddenly collapsed He did, however, make out the words, "this is for the best".