Family

Chapter three: The apology

Morning. The second day. 8:30 am. 

Lui walked down the stairs, his gaze landing on the white-haired teen sitting on the couch. Shu had bags under his eyes and looked like he hadn't slept. 

"What the- did you even sleep?" Lui asked. 

"No. We came back at midnight, and I realized I had bills to pay."

"What bills? You're fifteen."

"I own the Raging Bulls, Lui. I need to pay the electricity bills, the water bills, and everything."

"Ew."

Lui shuffled past Shu to the coffee machine and poured himself a mug of black coffee. Then, walking over to the fridge, he squirted a giant dollop of whipped cream on top. He came back and sat down. 

"Please don't tell me that's black coffee with whipped cream." Shu sounded exasperated. 

"Fine, I won't tell you. But it is." 

"Oh my god, that's disgusting. How? No, why?"

"It gives me energy."

"You want energy, drink Gatorade. Why would you- coffee and whipped cream? I can't even-" 

Lui snorted. "You have no idea how bratty and spoiled you sound right now."

"Shut up."

"No."

"Yes."

"No- okay, don't start this again please."

Shu rolled his eyes and got up to get coffee for himself. He paused halfway to answer a text. 

Lui took a deep breath. 

Just do it, he told himself. 

He had thought it over last night, and concluded that to make his relationship with Shu even a little better, he would have to start with something. And that something was quite possibly the hardest thing he'd ever done. 

He closed his eyes and opened them again.  

"Shu. I'm sorry."

The albino almost dropped his phone. 

"F-for what?"

"You know why. I didn't hit your eye on purpose. I swear. I...was going to apologize, but you left too soon. And after that, you pretty much hated me. I never meant for us to become rivals, but.....it just happened. I know you can't forgive me, but.......I guess it's worth trying."

The piercing crimson orbs widened. 

"I- Lui, I....." he faltered. "I don't know." he sighed, then continued. "The day you hit me, my mom died. I think the pain of that, combined with the whole scar thing...I think that's why I hated you. Not because I thought you did it on purpose. That was never the reason. I felt like you humiliated me. After that battle, I stopped being Shu Kurenai, the blader. I became Shu Kurenai, the guy with the scar. But...right now...we don't have a choice. However we choose to believe it, we're brothers now. So we either go through it as enemies....."

"Or friends." Lui finished for him. 

"Yeah."

Lui said nothing, but simply got up and stood next to Shu. "I'm sorry about your mom," he said softly. Shu simply nodded and looked down. 

Something wet hit the floor. Shu was crying.

Oh, crap. Oh crap. What the hell am I supposed to do?! Lui's mind raced at a thousand miles per hour. Luckily, he was saved in the nick of time as both boys' respective parents came down the stairs. Shu quickly wiped away his tears and went back to texting as if nothing had happened. 

Lui just sat back down and licked all the melted whipped cream off the bottom of his mug.

"Guess what, boys? My office building just finished remodeling, so I'm taking your mother and giving her a tour! You two will behave yourselves, right?" Shu's dad seemed enthusiastic.

But Shu had flinched when he heard the words "your mother". It seemed like they were already a family when in reality, Shu and Lui had barely even become friends, let alone brothers. 

"Okay, fine. You guys go." Lui filled in for Shu's silence. 

TIMESKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY.......OKAY I RAN OUT OF IDEAS BUT YOU GET THE POINT

Later that afternoon, Shu and Lui were both tired of just sitting around and ignoring each other. 

Suddenly a loud scream rang out.

"GAH- What was that?!" Shu yelled.

"Nothing, stop freaking out. It's just my ringtone."

"WHY IS YOUR FREAKING RINGTONE ME SCREAMING." Shu gave Lui a death glare. 

"How did you know it was you?"

"I CAN RECOGNIZE MY OWN VOICE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

"Okay, okay, jeez."

Lui picked up the phone.

"Hello? Oh, tante Adelie, c'est toi. Qu'est-ce que vous voulez? Non, maman n'est pas à la maison. Très bien, elle vous rappellera. Je vais lui dire. OK, J'AI COMPRIS! DIEU, DAME! AU REVOIR.

A/N: You don't need to know what this means. It's not relevant. Basically, Lui tells his aunt that his mom isn't home and that she'll call back later. 

"What the- what language was that?" Shu asked. 

"French."

"You know French?"

"Yes...I grew up in Canada, idiot. Of course I know French."

"Are you even Japanese?"

"My dad is Japanese. My mom's French-Canadian."

"Oh."

Lui nodded sarcastically, then randomly said, "Wanna see my snake?"

"Snake?" 

"Yeah."

"Um....okay....?"

"Wait here." Lui ran upstairs.

He came down with a giant, thick snake wrapped around his shoulders.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT??!!"

"A snake. You lived in Mexico for what, a year? How would you not know what a snake looks like?"

"Don't be annoying."

"Too late."

But instead of making another snide remark, Shu simply smiled.

And Lui smiled right back.