Sorry this took so long.


76. Thankful

Even when he called him an idiot, and played jokes on him, and told him to leave, Haruichi was thankful to have Ryousuke as a big brother.

77. Hyper

Ryousuke had never seen his brother that hyper before, and while it got him good blackmail material, he never wanted to again.

78. Goosebumps

The way Ryousuke smiled brought goosebumps to Haruichi's arms.

79. Worthless

It was just a worthless piece of fabric, torn from his big brother's old jersey, but to Haruichi, it meant the world.

80. Remorse

He would always regret the words he'd said that day. Every morning and every night, the remorse flooded through him. He shouldn't have said those words. It had been a little over four years now, and Haruichi still hadn't been found.

81. Degraded (Corrupted)

Ryousuke refused to allow anyone to corrupt his baby brother. The regulars learned to watch what they said and did around the first year the hard way.

82. Revenge

Revenge was the easy part. It was comforting Haruichi at night, when the nightmares refused to leave and chasing away the fears that was the hard part.

83. Fulfilled

He may not have fulfilled his brother's expectations, but Ryousuke would always be Haruichi's hero.

84. Shame

Heads hanging in shame, Haruichi and Ryousuke stood before their mother. The younger was nearly covered in glitter, while the elder had feathers in his hair and clothes. Haruna wasn't sure if she should laugh or sternly remind them that this is why they didn't wrestle in the house.

85. Graceful

They never got tired of listening to their mother play the piano. Ryousuke loved the way it sounded. Haruichi loved the way her slender fingers gracefully slid across the keys.

86. Shining

No matter how much he complained, Ryousuke would always protect his little brother. Haruichi's shining smile when he came back victorious never failed to cheer him up.

87. Content

All the other kids were out playing in the snow. Building snow people, having snowball fights, making snow forts, and so on. Haruichi was content to stay curled up with his brother and watch the snowflakes fall.

88. Feelings

Ryousuke wasn't sure his feelings reached Haruichi, but he was fine with that. Seeing how happy his little brother was and watching over him from a distance was more than enough.

89. Pleased

Haruna was pleased to see her son's getting along. It had been a fear of hers that Ryousuke would be resentful or unhappy with his new baby brother. Seeing them together like this showed her she was worried for nothing.

90. Relief

The relief on Haruichi's face when Ryousuke told him his ankle would heal soon and he could keep playing baseball made him smile. Haruichi really was a handful, but Ryousuke wouldn't change him for the world.


One more chapter!