Can I be a Hero Too?

Chapter 3 - Flashback 1

She woke up from a nightmare and cautiously got out of bed, making sure to grab Hoshi, on her way off of her bed. She slowly went down the stairs, trying her best to not make a sound in case her brother was sleeping. As she stepped down the stairs one of the steps creaked, causing her brother to immediately wake up and look towards the stairs, noticing it was his sister he smiled warmly and got off the couch.

"Yuu, what are you doing out of bed? Did you have a nightmare again?" He walks over to her, his brown hair unusually messy from sleeping, he kneels down to his sisters height as she nods. "C'mon let's get some cookies, I just bought a box of your favorite," he smiles as he gets up walks to the kitchen.

He walks over to a cupboard and opens it, revealing the entire top shelf of the cupboard was filled with cookie boxes, brownie mixes, and other candies stuffed into a jar. The brunet grabs a container full of mini packages that read 'Kinako Mochi cookies' and sets it down on the counter underneath the cupboard as he closes the said cupboard. He hears the sound of footsteps waking into the kitchen, he looks over and sees the small figure of his 6 year old sister holding her stuffed black cat in her arms. He smiles and walks over to his sister, he picks her up and walks back over to the counter to grab the container of prepackaged cookies that she seemed to like so much.

"Alright little Yuu, what movie do you wanna watch tonight? I just got that new movie from the store, I think it's called 'Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi', wanna watch that?" He says as he sets her and the cookies on the couch before sitting down himself and grabbing the tv remote.

"Sure," His sister says quietly, her long, dark brown hair falling in front of her face as she hugs her stuffed animal tightly.

He frowns, "Hey..." he says softly as he tucks his sisters hair gently behind her ear as he looks at her with concern, "Is this just about the nightmare? Or is there something more you aren't telling me? You can trust me, I'm your brother. Hell I'm the only one who's been here for you your entire life." He laughs slightly at the last part even though there was no humor in that sentence. He looks at her again, "But seriously though, what's going on with you lately? You're getting quieter and you won't even look at me anymore, did I do something?" He says, his voice full of concern.

She hugs her stuffed cat tightly, "W-what do you do when you're at work?" She looks at him, the small bit of gold in her eyes shining in the dim room that was only being lit by the lighting in the kitchen.

He looks at her shocked, "What do you mean? I work, simple." He shrugs.

"But...you're thirteen, the kids at school...they say you're supposed to be in middle school...but you aren't...you work instead."

"Yeah," he sighs, "I mean, you want to keep going to school...right? We need the money to afford the house and food and, basically everything. Besides, you know I've never been an academics kind of person. Always been a hands on kinda person."

She nods, "But, the older kids said that you got kicked out of school. They said you hurt someone and the school kicked you out. They called you a monster,"

He shifts his sitting position, "Yeah, well," he sighs, "Kid shouldn't have opened his damn mouth and said something he shoulda regretted." He thinks for a second before looking her in the eyes, "You don't think I'm a monster...do you?"

She shakes her head, "No, just...what do you do? Do you fight bad guys like the heroes?"

"Why do you assume I fight people?" He grins, "I might just work at a grocery store like a boring person."

"Because, I saw you one time. In an alleyway, you hurt that man pretty bad."

He blinks, "What? When did you-?" He thinks for a second before realizing, "You-...? You were there when I killed Crescend? I thought that was just a stray cat that moved that can."

Her eyes widen in horror, "Y-you killed someone? Shii that's really bad! Why would you do that?! He was a hero!"

He looked at his little sister, hurt and confusion in her eyes as she hugged her stuffed black cat tightly and started to back away from him in fear, "Yuu, please just listen, I know it isn't good, but I have reasons. Please don't back away from me, I promise you I'm not a bad guy, okay? Just trust me please." He says desperately, "I know it looks like that but please, Yuu please just trust me- believe me, okay? I promise you it was for a good reason."

"But you killed a hero Shii! It's really bad! A hero is supposed to protect someone! They're supposed to be good!" She exclaimed, tears started to well up in her eyes as she continued to back up towards the other end of the couch.

"Yuu trust me I know. But that hero wasn't a good person, okay? He hurt people and- and you don't want people to hurt, right?" He looks at his sister as she nods, "So you can understand why I did what I did, right?"

"I- I guess so..."

"Yuu, please I'm not a monster, I promise. I have good reasons for what I do. You just have to trust me, like you always do, okay?" He watches as his sister stops backing away and nods slowly, the confusion, hurt, and fear in her eyes slowly faded. "You know I will never do anything that I know will hurt you. Ever. I love you, okay? I will never ever do anything intentionally that would hurt you. You know that."

"I- I know."

"You're my sister, you're the only one I have. I can't lose you and if the stuff I do hurts you... I- I'll stop. I'll figure something else out, alright?"

She thinks for a few minutes before speaking, "I-if they're bad people...I guess it isn't that bad...right?" She looks up at her brother for an answer, he nods.

"Yeah, yeah that's right. I just want to make Japan a better place for you to live in." He watches as his sister nods slowly as she starts to understand what he's saying.

"Okay..."

They just sit there for a few minutes in silence before he speaks, "So...what about that movie...? Or if you just want to sit here we can."

He watches as his sister slowly nods after a few seconds, "Sure, we can watch the movie." She moves back over to the side of the couch where her brother was sitting.

"Okay," he nods before turning on the tv and starting the movie, "Hey Yuu. Y'know I love you, right? I'll always have your back, no matter what."

She smiles slightly, "Thanks Shii, I love you too."