The request for the foggy breath prompt was actually a crack pairing, so I wrote a second one for uploading here. Decided to write Kodai brothers, because no one writes about Kodai brothers. Well, no one really writes about Yamato at all, but oh well. Too bad I was half asleep writing this.

We shared a tiny flat, just like everyone else who moved underground. I doubted there was a family on our floor, hell, in our building, who hadn't lost someone. That was what drove us all here – homes destroyed in a bombing. Susumu hated the place, little kid cooped up underground. Guess I couldn't blame him. After all, I spent so little time there with him that I always forgot which cabinet we kept the plates in.

"Are you sure you don't move these every time I'm gone just to mess with me?" I asked, frowning at the cups.

"No," he yelled from the bedroom, which we called a living room during the day. "You're just stupid."

He'd grown into a smartass at some point. Maybe the other kids at school taught him that. It sure wasn't me. Dad never let me talk that way, but I wasn't dad, and getting onto him when I was only around every few months felt unfair. Besides, what fifteen year-old didn't call people stupid?

After dumping a few of the frozen blocks apparently called food on a plate, I tossed it in the microwave and walked back into the living room. Susumu lay on his stomach on the floor, reading a book for school. His feet kicked back and forth in a drowsy rhythm. Every time I came back during leave, I felt like I'd forgotten how to talk to him. For the first day, he'd giddily ask me questions and stick close to my side, but once the excitement of having me back wore off, he went back to what I could only guess was his usual routine.

He ate without me and did his homework without complaint. That did weird me out. I plopped down on the couch and watched him read while the microwave hummed in the kitchen. "Hey," I said. I reached out with my foot and poked his side with my toes. "I'm bored. Talk to me."

"Talk to yourself," he huffed, ramming his elbow into my foot.

I poked him harder instead, practically kicking him. "Don't talk to me that way. Why are you being such an ass? Dad wouldn't have let you get away with that."

He tossed me a glare from the corners of his eyes. "Dad's not here."

He had me there. The microwave dinged, saving me from having to think of a response. I'd forgotten what a pain in the ass teenagers were. "So," I called from the kitchen as I pulled out my plate. "How was school?"

"Boring."

Alright, I couldn't blame him for that answer. That question used to get on my nerves too. I walked back and settled myself in front of him, down on my stomach with my plate in front of me. "Hey," I said again. "You're almost old enough to start flight training."

His boredom eased away with a small smile that barely reached his eyes. "Next year," he said. "I'm signing up right when I turn sixteen."

"Sixteen?" A pang of worry hit me. "I couldn't sign up 'til seventeen. They changed it?"

Those wide brown eyes shone with joy, his smile widening to a grin. "Yeah, it's great. Don't have to wait so long. I'll finally get to go back to the surface. And once I'm 17, if I'm good enough, I can go on missions!"

The government lowered all the age limits sometime while I was away. With Susumu smiling, I did my best to return it. I wanted him to have one more year to be a kid, the same as me, but we always needed more soldiers to replace the ones we'd lost. I placed my hand to the top of his head, hiding a sigh. "You just be careful out there. Don't do anything stupid."

He laughed and shook my hand off, which didn't make for the best assurance. At least we had something to talk about again. "So, does it still snow on the surface? I know it's winter right now." He leaned his chin into his palm, his elbow holding him up. I found myself mirroring him.

"Not that I know of," I said. "Whole surface is heated up."

"But it's cold in space, right? Snows on lots of other planets, doesn't it? Haven't seen snow in forever."

"Well there's carbon monoxide snow on Pluto if that counts. We don't stop on planets other than Mars if we can help it. They're not life-friendly for the most part."

His mouth screwed into a pout. It surprised me he wanted to see snow at all. Last time we'd really seen snow was the day the bombs wiped out our city. "But it is definitely cold in space," I added.

His head twitched to the right. "Can you see your breath?"

"What?" I felt my head twitch to the left.

"You know, is it so cold that you can see your breath when you breathe out?"

"Well, no one would go out without an insulated suit, so I don't know if you can see your breath in the void of space or not." If you could, it wouldn't be for long. "The helmets are made to not fog up from condensation, but you can still see it for a second sometimes."

He nodded but looked a little disappointed. I couldn't be sure what was going on in that head of his. "I just can't wait to get out of here. I want to be able to see outside again, you know?"

"No," I said. I wanted to be honest with him, but at the same time I wanted him to keep that childish excitement about the outside. No matter what truths I gave him, I knew disappointment was inevitable. "When you're out there for so long, you really just want to come back home."

But then again, maybe that was only true because he was here. It was only true as long as I had someone to come back to. Once he was out in space, off with his own platoon, there was nothing left for me here but a tiny flat where I couldn't remember where we kept the plates.