Only one day until Peter's exams and Yao was reviewing with him what they had gone over. Thank goodness it was just a math exam; any other subject would not be the best at the moment.
"Pythagorean theorem aru,"
"a2+b2=c2,"
"What is b in y=m(x)+b aru?"
"y-intercept," Yao nodded proudly at Peter's correct answers. The younger boy was doing quite exceptional in math.
"You're doing great, Peter. I guess I'm done here for today aru." Yao smiled, packing up his things. When he turned back to face Peter, the Chinese teen saw the little British boy pouting. "What?" He asked through a chuckle.
"Do you have to go so soon! You've only been here like an hour!" He whined. Peter really enjoyed having Yao over.
"Well I taught you all you need to know for your exam aru."
"Pwease~" Peter looked up at the Chinese teen with a pleading gesture. His eyes were huge and watery. It was so adorable and with Yao being Yao, you can guess what happened next.
"Tài kě'àile ((So cute))!" Little Peter was so cute that Yao just had to pull him in and squish him with a hug. He didn't notice the blush on Peter's face since his eyes were tightly shut. Oh sibling similarity. "Okay, you win aru." Yao said, letting go of Peter. The said Brit smiled greatly, pumping his fist in the air. "Just let me clean up here."
While Yao was putting stuff away, the door was being knocked on and Peter went to go see who it was. He opened the door slightly and stuck his head out, making the person unable to look inside. "May I help you?"
"I just thought I'd meet your tutor." It was Arthur at the door, smiling down at his little brother. Unfortunately for Arthur, Peter didn't want to share his beloved tutor.
"Uh-uh!" He replied, sticking his tongue out again. Before Peter could turn around and shut the door, Arthur pulled him back out by the back of his shirt. "Oi!" He complained when out of the room. The door was now shut.
"This person has been here for practically a month. Don't you think it's fair that I meet her?" Arthur sternly asked, crossing his arms and lording over Peter. The said Brit was not going to give Arthur a chance to lord over him. He only turned around, arms also crossed and back towards Arthur. He gave out a quick 'Hmph!'
What Peter didn't expect was that Arthur went right in anyways. "HEY!" When Peter ran in after him, he saw the room practically froze. Yao was staring back at the two Brits, looking at them like there wasn't anything wrong. Arthur, on the other hand, was just shocked, eyes widened.
Yao watched as Arthur started backing out of the room pulling Peter with him. When the door closed again, the Chinese teen heard a whiny 'Ow!' come from Peter. Out in the hallway, Arthur just smacked Peter's head, irritatingly asking the younger Brit why he didn't say it was Yao. All he said was a 'pretty Chinese girl' and he was only 2/3 right.
Back inside the study, Yao walked around the desk, about to leave and see what the two were doing. Right when he was in front of the desk, the door reopened. Running in was a teary and pouting Peter.
"Yao! Arthur hit me!" He whined, hugging an astonished Yao. The Chinese teen smiled sincerely down at Peter, rubbing his back. Arthur was baffled.
"Why you little bugger!" Arthur couldn't believe his younger brother! For a 12 year-old he surely didn't act his age. Or was he doing that just to make him look bad! Oh that little-
Peter turned to Arthur, still holding onto Yao. He stuck his tongue out yet again and the vein on Arthur's head was clearly visible now. Yao shook his head, still smiling. Peter noticed he was starting to move, so he released the Chinese teen. Yao crouched down to Peter's height, seeing eye to eye to him.
"I'm sure you're a tough boy aru." Yao said, standing a bit higher than a moment ago, "Let's see the damage then, shall we?" Peter blushed and nodded, bending down a bit for Yao too see his head. The Chinese teen removed the Brit's sailor hat, examining his head. "Nothing seems to be damaged or broken aru. You should be fine."
Peter looked back up when Yao placed his hat back on his head. His blush deepened when he saw Yao smiling back at him. The Chinese teen didn't notice even with him right in front of him, and stood back up. "Let's not aggravate your brother anymore aru." Yao chuckled while Peter nodded. "And you," He added, looking at Arthur, "don't tease your brother aru." Peter turned to Arthur and smirked.
The three walked out the study and down the hall. It was mostly Peter talking and Yao happily nodding back. Arthur watched Yao most of the time with amazement. He never knew that Yao could be so great with kids (or whatever Peter was). The Chinese teen always seemed so cold towards people in his opinion.
Arthur wasn't paying attention when Peter stopped leading and almost bumped into the smaller child. One of the maids was reminding the younger Brit he had football ((soccer)) practice today. Peter turned to Yao, explaining he would be back later. The younger Brit then turned to Arthur, telling his older brother to take care of Yao while he was gone and that if he did anything to upset the Chinese teen, he'd get him back. Peter sped away, looking and waving back. Yao chuckled again, waving back at him.
"You have a cute brother aru." Yao finally said when they were left alone. "You two are really alike." Arthur looked baffled at Yao, slightly offended.
"I'm nothing like that little monster! I am a gentleman and he's a pain in the arse." Yao smacked Arthur's arm after hearing him speak.
"Don't call your brother names aru! Trust me, he's more of a 'gentleman' than you are." Yao chuckled while Arthur glared at him. It was around his afternoon tea time, so Arthur offered Yao tea. The Chinese teen gladly accepted and they went out in the backyard for tea since it was such a nice day. Yao had admit, it was a really nice garden. Blooming flowers, fountains and settle creeks, it was very beautiful.
"How'd you get so good with kids, anyways?" Arthur finally asked Yao. "I mean, doesn't Peter ever get on your nerves or something?" Yao smiled, sipping his tea.
"Well, I had to raise Hong almost all my life aru." Arthur suddenly felt bad. Of course; they were orphans. "Then I had to take care of Kiku, Mei, and the twins when we were all younger. Jun mostly stayed with Binh, but he and Lien did help out with the others aru. Peter just reminded me of them when they were younger."
"Sounds like you were on your own most of the times. Not trying to pry or anything, but what happened to your parents." Arthur immediately regretted asking Yao when the Chinese tea started choking on his tea. "I-I'm so sorry! You don't have to answer!" Yao shook his head.
"N-no, it's fine. It was a long time ago anyways aru. 10 years...? No, 11. But they, uh... Died..." Arthur noticed uncertainty in Yao, but decided to ignore it. He thought it was probably because it was such a harsh memory. Why was he even asking? They barely ever talked since like a month ago and it wasn't any of his business!
"I'm sorry..." Arthur said again.
"It's fine. It was a long time ago aru..."
"Did that happen to the others?" Arthur mentally face-palmed and scolded himself. What the hell was he saying! It's not his business! Stop asking painful questions, stupid git! Arthur stopped mentally scolding himself when he saw Yao shake his head.
"We all had our own twisted past aru..." The expression on Yao's face was one that could not be forgotten. Only one word could describe it the best.
Lifeless...
Arthur felt absolutely horrible. It was his fault that Yao was probably reliving his painful past. Moving on its own, Arthur's hand started moving towards the inattentive Chinese teen. He made a haste stop right by his face when Yao started shaking his head, clearing his mind of his previous thoughts, unaware of Arthur's actions.
"Aiyah, what am I doing aru! That was all in the past!" He said mostly to himself, patting both his cheeks. "Sorry, I didn't mean to zone out." Yao smiled his usual smile, but Arthur could still tell something wasn't right. Deciding not to add fuel to the flames, Arthur just smiled back. "S-so when does Peter usually get back aru?" Yao asked. Arthur raised a brow, confused to why Yao would ask. Wait, he was only here because of the little guy. Guess it'd make sense to ask.
"I don't know. It usually varies." Arthur answered, taking a sip of tea. "He can be so bratty at times. Most likely because he's the youngest." The Brit sighed. Yao chuckled again at Arthur's comment. The said Brit looked over at the chuckling Chinese teen seeing him cover his mouth with his oversized sleeve again. "W-what?"
"Nothing, Mr. fourth-child-of-the-Kirkland-family aru." Yao answered with an attempt to speak with a British accent. Arthur blushed at how Yao was trying to mimic him. "You were the youngest for a while." Arthur gave Yao a deadpanned look while the Chinese teen finished his tea behind a smile.
"Ha ha ha, very funny." Arthur said sarcastically. "I've bet you've been babied for a bit when you were younger."
"Nope, I practically had to work all my life aru. Even when it doesn't seem like it, I'm working." Arthur raised a brow, not exactly believing the Chinese teen. He had to take a break sometimes. "You should be lucky you're one of the youngest aru." Yao sighed again, leaning back on his chair.
"Well, I'm sure there are some advantages from being the eldest." Arthur replied, pouring Yao more tea.
"Yeah, I guess so aru." Yao took another sip of his hot tea before Arthur could warn him about it. He waited for the Chinese teen to spit it out and yell at him for not warning him, but Yao only continued drinking it. Arthur was slightly amazed that Yao could handle such hot tea.
"Well yeah! I mean, you get a lot of attention because you're the oldest-"
"Yeah."
"Then, people probably talk about all your accomplishments all the time at gatherings-"
"...uh-huh..."
"Then the youngest ones probably get left out a lot with no attention or getting compared to you a lot... Looking up to you, but envying you at the same time..."
"..."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to vent-" Arthur started, but stopped mid sentence once turning to Yao. "Yao?" The Chinese teen was tearing behind his tea up, eyes and nose started to turn pink. "Yao!" Arthur immediately got up from his seat, rushing to the Chinese teen's side.
Setting down his cup, Yao wiped his tears with his long sleeve, hiccupping under his breath. "S-sorry. I should go aru." Yao stood, starting to walk off, but Arthur held him back, grabbing his arm. The next thing they both knew was that Arthur pulled Yao in, giving the sobbing Asian a hug. Both were blushing deeply as the Brit held the Chinese teen tightly.
"Y-you need this and I d-don't want to feel like I didn't do anything for you when I k-kinda caused you to cry." Arthur stuttered out. He just waited for Yao to spat something back like, 'I'm not crying! I had something in my eyes aru!', but it never came. It was just silent. He could hear the soft breaths from the Chinese teen along with the whistling wind and running water.
The two stood in silence until Arthur asked if he was better. Yao pushed Arthur back a bit, signalling the Brit to let go as he did. "I should go now." Yao said, proceeding to walk. He stopped before re-entering the house and turned back to Arthur. "I-I wasn't crying! I'm probably just allergic to some of your flowers aru!" He lied, face pink from his embarrassment instead of sadness.
Arthur smiled softly back. There's the old Yao he knew and lov- came aquatinted to. He rose his hand partly as a goodbye and Yao replied with nod before re-entering his house to exit again through the front. Even when Yao was gone, Arthur continued softly smiling to himself, looking at the beautiful garden without really paying attention to it.
The sound of snickering brought Arthur back to reality. The Brit turned back to the door and saw his old nanny standing with her sweet smile. "Yes, Nanna?" The old nanny only bowed her head a bit, turning and walking back inside with the tea set. Arthur could've sworn she said something like, 'Oh, young love'.
As Arthur entered his house, Walter came up to him. "Young Master, I have offered Master Yao a ride home, but he politely denied. Again. But, he did ask me to carry on a message to you. All he said was, 'xie xie'." Walter smiled cheerfully as Arthur thanked him and tried to figure out what it meant. He was considering telling the young master what it meant, but seeing Arthur trying to figure it out himself was slightly more amusing.
What a wonderful child you are, Yao. Māma and Bàba are really happy we have you.
Xie xie, Māma.
Getting tired of standing, Yao started sliding down the wall he was leaning on, waiting for the bus.
Aren't you just the perfect child? Zǔmǔ will be so pleased with you.
Xie xie, Bàba.
The bus finally arrived, opening the door for Yao. The Chinese teen greeted the bus driver and Wu greeted back. The bus was empty as usual in this part of town.
What beautiful golden eyes! Only a few in our family has had those eyes. What a lucky child you are, Yao, to have the eyes of a true dragon.
Xie xie, Zǔmǔ.
The scenery outside the window constantly changed. As the bus drove past the fields, Yao noticed his reflection in the window. Golden eyes stared back at him. Golden eyes of which he hated. He hid them temporarily, covering the reflection of his eyes with his hand.
Ugh! What is wrong with you? Why can't you be more like your gēge? I'm disappointed to be your mother.
Yao got off at his stop, waving goodbye to Wu as he drove off. He took a deep breath as he started walking home.
Don't even look at me. How can a father be proud to show his mother a son like you?
Yao bent down to pick up some bamboo. Qiang must be hungry by now.
Pitiful child. How can you have been born apart of this family?
Yao opened the door to his home, walking in and removing his shoes. "I'm home aru." He shouted.
"Okaeri, Yao-San." Kiku was first to greet, as usual. Yao smiled and started to head for their room.
"Thanks for cleaning the house again. I'm kinda tired so I think I'll take a nap aru." Kiku noticed something off about his older friend, but didn't say anything as he walked off. He did say he was tired, though. After watching Yao walk towards their room for a bit, Kiku turned back around to finish his task.
Yao sighed as he sat on his bed, watching Qiang munch on his bamboo meal. He turned towards the window next to him. The sun and cheerful scenery was mocking him. One of the disadvantages of having a bed next to the window. Yao was so into the view out his window that he didn't notice someone come in until the weight on his bed shifted.
The Chinese teen turned and next to him sat his brother also looking out the window. "Hong?" The said Chinese teen didn't say anything. Yao softly snorted, the corner of his mouth moving a bit upwards. Hong could easily read him like a panda eats bamboo; constantly and endlessly.
What Hong didn't expect from his brother was a sudden hug. "Yao-Ge?" Hong couldn't see his brother; his face was against Yao's chest.
"Duìbùqǐ ((Sorry)). Just give me a minute aru..." Hong did as told when he heard Yao's voice crack a little. The younger Chinese teen sat quietly, waiting for his brother to regain himself. The two sat in complete silence. Even Qiang was quiet, not even munching on his bamboo. "I'm so sorry, Hong. I couldn't- I didn't do anything to help you back then aru..." Hong's eyes were then filled with fiery as he shoved his brother away. Before any of them realized what was going on-
Slap!
Yao brought his hand up to his cheek. Hong, his little brother, just slapped him. "Was that what this is all about!" Yao heard Hong growled. He also heard his voice crack a bit like his did before. Yao turned to Hong. Only Hong can keep his neutral face as it starts to turn pink with teary eyes. "That's all in the past now, Yao-Ge! I don't even care about that!"
Yao smiled softly. He brought his hand to Hong's face, wiping away his younger brother's tears. He hugged him again right after, Hong staying perfectly still again. "Wounds may heal, but scars will remain aru..." Yao said after a short sigh. "You had it rough, Dìdi." It'd been a while since Yao called Hong that...
Hong nodded his head, but he only agreed to the first part. You had it a lot worse, Gēge...
If you couldn't tell, some of the italics were Yao's past, and PLEASE JUST BARE WITH ME ABOUT THEM! You will see more in the future! *cries with head on desk* So i was thinking of making a 'week of nightmares' with each day showing a chapter of each Asians' past. opinions on the idea? n e ways, hope Yao and Hong werent OOC, if so, sorry! *cries again* kukuku, you should see me while writing the angsty part. I was typing on my IPad and it DINGS! when there's a message. so:
me: *typetypetypetypetypetypetypetypetypetype* DING! *near dies from heart attack* OHDEARGAWD!
ROFL! Thanks guys for reading! four more ppl until 5,000 hits! Reviews are loved! plz excuse grammar, spelling, and/or language.
translations ((cuz i didn't wanna ruin the flashbacks with them)): Mama - mom, Baba - dad, Zumu - grandmother, gege - older brother, didi - younger brother.
Thanks last chapter reviewers!: Ladirette, Dorayaki-chan, MilkxCookies, Hatsu Yukiya, China Moon, FullOfAwesomeness44, DeadGirlWalking-chan, and roseofsharon.