My short stories

Older Brother

Note: Inspired by one of my headcannons. Shu and Fubuki may be OOC. It gets very sad at one point.

A little boy around eight years old sat under a table, confident that he wouldn't be found. He was playing a game of hide-and-seek with his older brother. Soon, the door opened and a pair of shoes entered the room.

"Oh Fubuki, where are you?" came a voice. "Hmm, I guess that clever boy has outsmarted me again. I guess that he's... here!"

Fubuki felt a pair of arms grab him and tickle him. He started to giggle helplessly. "Stop it, stop it!" he squealed.

"Not until you admit defeat," said the voice.

"Okay, you win Akeno," said Fubuki. 

Ten-year-old Akeno Sumiye smiled as he helped his little brother up. "Well, I have something to show you."

"What is it?" asked Fubuki.

Akeno pulled out something blue from his pocket. "This is a Beyblade," he said. "One day, you will own one of these, and then we can train together."

Fubuki nodded, his red eyes shining in happiness.

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Akeno was walking home after school one day. Fubuki was at a friend's birthday party, so for once, he was alone. Little did he know that this will be the last normal day for him.

"Why can't I do this?" he heard a voice say. He looked over at the Beypark.

He saw a boy his age with white hair and red eyes struggling to launch. Every time, his Beyblade always spun shakily.

"Excuse me?" he asked. The boy looked around in surprise.

"Hi," said Akeno. "I think that you are launching too far from the stadium. Try lowering yourself a little."

"Er... Okay?" he did as told. This time, when he launched, his Beyblade was quite steady.

"Whoa. You're right," said the boy.

"Are you new to Beyblade?"

"Yeah. I just got mine a few days ago."

"I'm Akeno Sumiye. What's your name?"

"Shu Kurenai."

"Are you going to enter the District Tournament this year? I'm going to enter it too."

"I never thought of that. I suppose I could try."

The two boys ended up having a few battles. At first, Akeno won, but suddenly, Shu managed to get a ring-out finish.

"Not bad for a beginner," said Akeno. "You could be a prodigy. But don't tell my little brother I said that. He doesn't believe in geniuses."

"You have a brother?" asked Shu.

"Yeah," said Akeno. "Maybe I could take you to meet him someday."

"That's nice," said Shu. "I'm an only child. I would love to have a sibling."

"Why didn't you ask your parents for one?" asked Akeno.

Shu suddenly became sad. "My parents... They said no."

"Oh," said Akeno. "I see. That's a pity. Little siblings are such fun. We would play together and have fun and once my brother is nine, he's going to have a Beyblade, and I'm going to train him..."

Suddenly, Akeno started coughing. Shu's red eyes widened. "Whoa there, are you okay?"

Akeno couldn't answer, he was coughing so badly. He started to feel dizzy.

Shu said, "Look, I'll get you to the hospital." However, Akeno didn't hear the rest of it before collapsing.

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Akeno opened his eyes to find himself in a hospital bed. His parents and Fubuki were looking at him worriedly.

"Big brother," called out Fubuki. "Are you okay?"

Akeno felt rather weak, but still managed to smile at him. "Don't worry, I will be alright. It's just a cold or the flu."

However, a doctor gave shocking news. Akeno had lung cancer! Fubuki burst into tears when he heard.

In the next few weeks, Akeno was given medication for his condition. However, he didn't get any better. He only seemed to get worse.

He would constantly keep coughing, and one day, he started to cough up blood. His classmates were so freaked out that Akeno decided to be homeschooled.

He kept going back to the Beypark, hoping to see Shu again, but no luck. Akeno was rather disappointed. He really wanted to meet the albino boy and perhaps introduce him to Fubuki.

Fubuki, though young, understood the severity of Akeno's condition. He felt terrified of losing him.

"Don't worry little brother," said Akeno. "I'm not going to die. We will figure this out."

One day, Akeno's condition was so weak that he could hardly breathe properly, so he ended up back in the hospital. It was decided that he needed to have a surgery to remove whatever was causing the disease.

Fubuki came to him holding a drawing of the two of them. "When you get better, we are going to play like we used to."

Akeno looked sad. "Little brother, there's something I should tell you."

"What is it?" asked Fubuki.

"If I die, I want you to take care of my bey."

"What?"

"Oh, and remember that boy I told you about? His name's Shu Kurenai, and if you ever meet him, tell him that I wish that we could have been friends."

"No, don't say that! You're going to live, and we will practice Beyblade together, and you're going to introduce me to your friend!"

Just then, a nurse arrived to take Fubuki out and to take Akeno to the surgery room.

Fubuki waited for ages holding Akeno's bey. He hoped that everything would be alright. Finally, a surgeon came to meet him and his parents.

"How is our son?" asked Mr Sumiye.

"I'm sorry," said the surgeon. "We did everything we could, but he's gone."

Fubuki gasped. "No, this can't be! Please tell me that you're joking!"

Fubuki couldn't control his tears. His big brother was gone, and there's nothing he could do about it. He cried so much that he ended up throwing up.

His mother hugged him. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"It's not fair!" said Fubuki. "It isn't... It isn't..."

At that point, Fubuki knew that his life would never be the same again.