Chapter Text
Waking up has always been a struggle for Idia. Some days it was due to a late night gaming session and others it from the lack of motivation to keep existing. This morning though the thing keeping Idia from getting up was the person laying on his chest.
When the Ignihyde dorm leader was first starting to wake up he just thought the weight must be his tablet. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence for the anxiety-filled dorm leader to fall asleep while using it, but when he opened his eyes there was blue flaming hair that wasn’t his.
To say that Idia was shocked would be an understatement. It felt more akin to learning that one of your favorite shows that ended on a cliffhanger was canceled.
The first thing that crossed the otaku’s mind was that it could only be Ortho. Then he dismissed that thought immediately. Ortho hadn’t slept in with Idia since they had both been small children. The current Ortho hadn’t mentioned anything about sharing a bed since he was created.
Idia’s mind was going a million miles a second. He couldn’t ever form a coherent thought, just then the figure on his chest started talking.
“Are you having a nightmare Nii-chan? Your heart is beating really fast.” The figure asked sweetly and slightly concerned, sitting up and rubbing their eyes.
Idia got a better look at the person’s face at that moment and it was in fact Ortho’s. This had to be a nightmare!! After everything that had happened at the Isle of Woe, Idia thought he might be able to start moving then this fucking happens.
He tried to get up out of his bed hoping to get as far away as he could, but his foot got in the bed sheets so he was only able to fall onto the floor.
“Seriously, Nii-chan, what's wrong? You’re starting to scare me. You look like you’ve seen a partially extroverted ghost.” The Ortho look alike said crawling over the bed to get closer to Idia.
“This isn’t real. He isn’t real.” Was all the Ignihyde dorm leader could mutter cradling his head in his knees. The Ortho look alike climbed off the bed and went to hug his brother from behind.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but is there anything I can do to help Nii-chan? Do you want me to get your boyfriend?”
It felt like surprise after surprise for Idia this morning. Not only did his dead brother seem to be alive again and human at that, but said brother thought he was dating someone. The flaming haired gaymer had no idea how to respond to that so he tried rebooting his thoughts. The warm arms wrapped around him grounding him from his panic helped the process.
“I - I’m very confused right now.” Was all Idia could voice at that moment.
“I know waking up from a nightmare can be very disorienting, so you’re ok I was just worried for you. So, I’m here if you want to talk, Nii-chan.” The Ortho look alike said moving from behind to the Housewarden to his left side to try and look him in the eyes.
“Ok, … can you, um, give some exposition dialogue about how you’re here and why?”
“Wow, you must’ve had a bad one if you forgot that I was here, Nii-chan, I’m here because both Royal Sword Academy and Night Raven College have spring break at the same time. Mom and dad we’re going to be too busy this time to even hang out with us, so I decided to come visit Nii-chan and see his school. I was also hoping I might get to meet that boyfriend you are always talking about but never name.” Ortho explained.
While Ortho, was giving his explanation Idia finally lifted his head to look at his brother. He only looked slightly different then what he originally imagined he would look like at this age. The fact that his hair had grown out enough to reach his shoulders was the only big difference. With the dim light provided by the shroud brothers’ hair the Ignihyde dorm leader could also make out that Ortho was wearing Star Rouge themed pajamas.
After hearing that explanation either Idia was dreaming, in a way too realistic VR setting, or he was in an alternate universe. Those were the only reasonable possibilities in the otaku’s mind, and since he didn’t know which he decided to just go along with it for now. Besides, it would be nice to spend time with this Ortho even if it didn’t end up being real.
**************************************
Later that afternoon Idia had had some time to collect himself and was getting dressed while trying to sike himself up to give his brother a tour of NRC. The gaymer hoped that since spring break had started there would be less normies and extroverts on campus, especially since the first place Ortho wanted to see was the cafeteria.
The youngest shroud was so insistent about visiting the cafeteria first because he didn’t think Gamer Supps and candy were a proper diet. He was also concerned about his brother in general ever since the incident that morning. His brother seemed off. Idia had always been introverted and nervous around people he didn’t know well, but never to the extent that the thought of leaving his room would give him almost crippling anxiety. Now his Nii-chan was bringing his tablet with him in case some besides Ortho tried to talk to him.
While the two brothers walked to the cafeteria Ortho kept asking about his brother’s school life and Idia would respond to each question in very little detail. The blue-haired Housewarden was just poggers that they had yet to run into any other students in the hallway. When they did arrive there was a good amount of students present, so Idia immediately pulled his hood over his head. Ortho had to drag the otaku by the hand through the cafeteria’s entrance so that they could get in line for food.
The Ignihyde Housewarden absolutely could not sit at the same tables as normies, so he and Ortho sat at a table the farthest they could get from others. Luckily the table was the last in the row so the two could sit on opposite sides and Idia wouldn’t have to look at other students. During the brothers’ mealtime the younger mage made sure that his brother was actually eating his vegetables, and not just pushing them around on his plate. Ortho was also trying to ignore the stares being directed at their table. He wasn’t sure why the majority of the cafeteria was staring and the only reason he could come up with is that didn’t recognize Ortho and thought it was weird that he was there.
Ortho was able to ignore all the stares, until someone started walking over to their table.
“Who’s the new guy Idia-kun? Are they a relative of yours?” A short boy with black and pink asked with a smile.
Idia took a moment to get out his tablet so he could respond. The awkward otaku figured from what he heard about this world from Ortho that no one at NRC had met Ortho yet.
“This is my younger brother Ortho.” Idia said through the tablet.
“Oh, is that a new body of his?” The fanged boy questioned, eyes getting slightly wider.
The Ignihyde Dormleader almost started hyperventilating at that question. The younger Shroud wasn’t faring much better. They were both taken aback by the question, but for very different reasons.
Idia was even more confused than he was in the morning. The gamer really thought he was in some sort of dream or some in a different world, like the Ramshackle Perfect was. He came to that conclusion after hearing his brother’s story and Idia had found it to be factual because the other Ortho’s charging station was no longer present in the oldest Shroud’s room. Now Idia’s previous theory was crashing down around him. Lilia obviously knew the magic humanoid version of the youngest Shroud.
Ortho was facing a different issue. What did the strange boy mean by a new body? The way he looked at Ortho when he asked made it seem like he had met the RSA student before. The look Idia gave Ortho was a mix of confused and horrified.
“We have to go!” The Ignihyde dorm leader spoke through his tablet while getting up from his seat to run out of the cafeteria pulling Ortho behind him. Lilia couldn’t get another word out before the brothers started running towards the entrance.
“And I thought my kids were odd.” The Vice leader Diasomnia muttered to himself before returning to his table.
******************************************
Back in the Ignihyde dorm, Idia was leaning against his bed frame trying to catch his breath. Why did he think running was a good idea? The trip to Fleur City was proof enough that Idia didn’t have an athletic bone in his body.
Ortho waited in silence for his brother to catch his breath before he could begin his questioning. He sat down by the gaymer’s side and the youngest Shroud started glancing around the bedroom to occupy his time. It was definitely more messy than his room back home. Sure, Nii-chan never made his bed, but he didn’t normally have piles of clothes and books strewn about his room. It just added to the concerns Ortho was already having.
“Are you ready now, Nii-chan?” The RSA student asked, noticing his brother’s breathing was finally mellowing out.