Chapter Text
For as long as Mysta’s remembered, it’s always been Shu and only Shu.
The first memory he could even recall was his gentle older brother hugging him while he cried softly, repeating soft words of comfort into his ear.
Mysta couldn’t even remember clearly the reason he had been crying anymore, only the warmth he had felt from his one and only older brother.
He never wanted to let it go.
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The brothers' parents had passed away in a freak accident. It really was in the middle of the day, and what Mysta recalled was his older brother bursting into his elementary classroom, face flushed and eyes shining with a certain teary glow, but none had come out. He remembered holding his brother's hand while they were rushed to the hospital, Shu constantly uttering words of reassurance to the younger him who had no idea what was actually happening. He clearly saw his brother's hands trembling, but even so they never stopped holding him, patting his head and pulling him close to his chest.
Mysta apparently wasn't allowed inside the hospital room, but Shu was ushered in, his shaking voice telling Mysta to wait outside. Slightly overwhelmed by the bustling movements of people in the hallway, Mysta's ears still picked up an audible gasp coming from his brother, soon followed by the hushed voices of the other people in the room muttering words of comfort to the middle-soon-to-be-high schooler.
Mysta didn't say anything when his brother came out of the room, hands shaking harder than ever as they held hands once more.
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Not many people came to the funeral.
Their parents were never the type to be social and have a bunch of friends, ending up with only a handful of people, practically strangers to the two brothers, coming to the funeral. Each of them offered a few words of comfort, but none offered to provide assistance or help in any form. By this time, Shu had explained to Mysta what kind of fate had befallen their parents, and Mysta had a good cry over it with the comforting words of his brother the whole time. At the time, he had understood that mommy and daddy were never coming back.
The funeral ended with the two boys social worker coming over to their house that felt increasingly empty without their parents.
"Sorry boys, I tried to find an orphanage that would take you both, but the only ones with spaces available are separated. I'm afraid you children will have to split up." she said, a monotone voice revealing her boredom and clear disinterest in helping the two of them.
Mysta gasped, immediately tearing up while clinging to his brother's sweater, "S-Shu..."
A grounding arm came around him, and Shu replied to the lady, "I'm sorry, but there's no way I can be separated from my brother. He needs me! Can't you see what kind of situation we're in right now?"
"Well, young man, I-"
The argume-no conversation continued, and to Mysta's brain, they used a lot of big adult words, making it so that he didn't understand the entirety of what they were talking about.
It ended with the social worker lady leaving, exiting their house with an indignant sigh directed towards Shu.
Mysta watched as his brother's entire body shook, pulling Mysta in for a hug. He could hear Shu muttering, and so he leaned closer to hear what he was saying.
It was a mantra of, "We'll be okay, we'll be okay, we'll be okay..."
Leading to today.
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A lot of change was happening all at once.
The two brothers moved into another apartment, and this one was habitable but noticeably dingier than their previous house. Shu dropped out of school, explaining to Mysta that he had to work instead of go to school so he could earn money.
"I'll help too!" replied Mysta, striking (what he thought was) a confident pose. Shu simply laughed at his little brother's antics, playfully bopping him on the nose.
"No, you're going to stay in school, Mysta. You remember mommy and daddy said that school is important right? Since big brother can't graduate anymore, you have to in order to make mommy and daddy proud, you got it?" he replied.
Mysta quickly nodded, earning a light kiss on the cheek from Shu, "Hey, that tickles!!!"
And that was how their life went on afterward.
Shu would work all sorts of jobs while Mysta attended school, somehow still managing the household chores and meals at the same time. Although he had tried teaching Mysta to prepare simple meals, those sessions had ended after he had somehow ruined two of their pots by melting the bottoms. Mysta went into middle school, and life went on for a while. Although expenses were a bit tight at times, the two brothers got through it one way or another.
Then came the fateful day.
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It was the day for the home visit from Mysta's homeroom teacher. Shu was waiting at home, pretty excited to hear how Mysta had been doing in school. Mr. Yoshida was pretty nice from what Mysta had told him, but he also mentioned that the man would get annoyed when Mysta didn't do too well on tests, stating that he could clearly do better if he only tried more. Shu agreed, knowing how smart his little brother could be if he tried, but it had only earned a grumpy 'Hmph!' from said individual.
The doorbell rang, and Shu stood patiently in the living room while Mysta went to open the front door.
"Hey, Mr. Yoshida! Welcome!" the younger boy spoke first while the man was taking off his shoes.
"Hello, Mysta. I'm here to meet your guardian, so I hope they're actually here? They never seem to show up to the parent visit days we have at school." the other replied, a roughness to his voice.
Mysta nodded, "Yep! Don't worry, teach!"
As the two entered the living room, the teacher met eyes with Shu, seeming to pause for a moment before looking him up and down as if he was evaluating him in some way. He had tried to dress better, deciding on jeans and a loosely fit long sleeved dress shirt. Slightly uncomfortable, Shu offered a friendly smile as he spoke.
"Hello, I'm Mysta's guardian. Please do feel free to sit down at the table and I'll bring some tea over so we can talk about how he's been doing." turning around, he could still feel the older man's gaze fixed on him as he entered the kitchen area, putting the prepared tea on the tray and taking it out. Mysta had already sat down next to where Shu's seat was, seeming to anticipate what was coming.
Mr. Yoshida spoke first.
"So, how are you two related? I'm sorry, but you seem...a bit young to be his father?" he asked pointedly, eyes looking between Mysta and Shu.
"Ah yes, I'm actually his older brother. Our parents passed away when we were younger to an accident, so I took over the role of guardianship." Shu replied.
"Yep!" Mysta included, popping the P at the end, "Just us now!"
"Well, that certainly sounds pretty tough, how is-" he made to ask another question.
"Um!" Shu interrupted, "I-I'm sorry, but I'm sure you have other students' families to meet after this, so I wouldn't want to keep you for too long, could I ask we move on to how Mysta's been doing?" He didn't really feel like explaining their whole situation to this suspicious feeling person.
Thankfully, the man seemed to take the hint, "Ah yes, of course. Mysta Rias. Well, regarding his grades, they are slightly below average, but I believe they could be greatly increase if only he would try just a tad bit more?" Shu smiled as he nudged Mysta who was clearly unhappy about this statement.
"Continuing on, I trust that with some effort in the coming exams, he'll be able to safely assume that he can go to at least an average high school, or even one that is slightly above average. I believe that there is actually one quite near the current school that fits his level of skill." the man added.
"Oh really? How is it there?" Shu was excited to hear the prospect of Mysta going to a good school.
"Well, it does have some level of fame around these areas, but I do believe that the tuition is higher than the current tuition you are paying for our school. I don't know if that would be a problem?"
Shu deflated slightly at that statement. A raise in tuition would make their current savings pretty tight. They might be able to manage if he could take on one more job. Clearly this did not escape Mysta's eye.
"Shu! I don't need to go to that kind of school. I'm fine with whatever, I don't need some kind of fancy-schmancy school to do anything." he pulled on Shu's arm insistently, but his words fell onto deaf ears.
"No, Mysta. If you can get into a good school, why shouldn't you? You don't need to think about money or whatever, it's going to be fine. I want you to do well, Mysta." he spoke, inciting the two brothers into a minor argument.
Neither of them noticed how Mr. Yoshida's eyes had gained a glint, a corner of is mouth rising into a smirk.