perfection in your flaws - t. mitsuya

meeting you with your clumsiness

takashi mitsuya is an excellent brother, luna and mana knew so, everyone around him knew so. but when it comes to the brother in question, mitsuya has never been very confident. he's always trying his best, but there's still a lingering feeling of, what if  he's not providing them enough, what if  he's not the best I can be, what if  they feel obligated to limit their desire just because they were poor, what if  they're unhappy- so many what if's and so many questions that were inescapable.

"taka taka!"

mitsuya's attention shifts towards his young sister from the patch of wool he was sewing, palpably noticing the tears that smeared her cheeks and her rosy, swollen nose as she waddles towards him. he immediately gets up from his seat, rushing to his sister as he kneels down, "what happened, mana?"

"thaw boy hwurt me!" mana exclaims, a wave of unstoppable tears raining down her reddish eyes.

"where are you hurt baby?"

"thwere," mana mumbles, pointing to her right knee- a little reddish scratch blemishing her skin. mitsuya gently wipes her tears away with the pad of his thumb, one of his hands sliding down to tenderly pat her slouched shoulders.

"it's alright, it'll be fine once I patch it up."

he slides his hands under mana's arms, lifting her to sit on his bed as he fetches the medical kit reserved for his little sisters. mana's hiccups are the only sound he hears when he softly caresses the slight scratch with a pinch of ointment, making sure that he's never pressing too hard. then he brings up mana's favorite plaster strip- an animated cat with a copperplate kawaii written under it. mana's pout brightens up at the sight of the cat's doodle, and mitsuya carefully swipes it on the joint of her knee.

"there you go, better?"

mitsuya smiles when his sibling nods her head vigorously, her dinky hair-buns bopping along with her- as if the scratch was never there in the first place.

"taka will go and see who hurt mana, will you come with me?"

mitsuya takes her tiny hands into his, ushering her to lead the way as he stands up. he walks along with mana in slow steps until they reach the staircase that lead to the ground floor; and mana jumps down the stairs, dragging him by the arm as she occasionally exudes light sniffles. he supposes it was the new neighbor's kid who'd recently moved downstairs- since mana's never been this upset throughout the years they'd lived here; in fact, she's gotten along with the neighbors quite well.

It's the second door to the ground floor where the new residents moved in- quite obvious with the cartoon boxes laying around in front of the door, messily. the door's open, he notices; and a little boy, around the same height as mana sat on one of the many boxes.

"is it him?" mitsuya asks, earning a brief nod from mana- who'd already hid herself behind his legs. he walks over to the young boy with mana trailing behind, walking through the thin space the boxes provided.

"hello, little guy," mitsuya greets; and the boy, with short brown hair and shimmering hazel eyes, instantly looks up. his eyes shift to mana behind the older's legs and mitsuya can already say that he'd been terribly apologetic as he hurridly jumps down the cardboard, uttering a faint, "h-hello,"

"my sister says she's upset at you, is that true mister?" mitsuya's voice is cool despite the fright that glosses the latter's eyes and he almost feels bad for confronting the preschooler because of how courteously he bows down in a formal apology.