"What are you doing, onii-chan?" A small, meek voice came up behind Yao. Yao smiled and ruffled the four-year-old Kiku's hair lightly, then looked back in the mirror.
"Just putting up my hair, Kiku."
Kiku gasped, and a look of childish wonder became etched across his face. "I want to too!"
Yao laughed. "Yes, well, your hair's not long enough, Kiku. Besides, why would you want to have to tie your hair up? It's really just extra work..."
"Because you do it. Can you tie my hair up for me?"
Any other time, Yao would have refused, but Kiku seemed so hopeful that Yao just couldn't say no.
"Oh, all right. Stay still, now..."
Eventually, Yao succeeded in bunching up a small bit of hair on the top of Kiku's head and tying it with a small band. To Yao, it looked like Kiku had a small black plant growing out of his head, but Kiku seemed utterly spellbound.
"Wow! Now I'm just like you, onii-chan."
Yao grinned against his will. "Nobody will be able to tell us apart now, huh?"
"Hai!"
▽
"Kiku, what..." Yao turned around, then gasped. "What have you done to your hair?"
Seven-year-old Kiku grinned. "It's just like yours, see?" he said, pointing to the ponytail.
For a moment, Yao stood there, mouth moving with no sound coming out, until he came to his senses.
"Oh, no. No, no, no. Come on." Yao grabbed Kiku's hand and steered him towards the door.
"What? Why?" Kiku's smile faltered.
"We're getting that cut off right now. Why on earth you thought you should..."
Kiku looked hurt, and Yao regretted it for a moment. But he really did look so ridiculous in that ponytail...
"But why? I thought you'd like it..." Kiku asked softly, looking away.
"Because it looks absolutely ridiculous! We're putting your hair back exactly the way it was, thank you very much..."
Yao was so busy hiding Kiku's ponytail from the rest of the world that he didn't notice the tears quietly making their way down Kiku's cheeks.
▽
"Kiku, please stop following me around." Yao turned, exasperated, to the ten-year-old Japanese trailing him. "I have things to do."
"Can't I do them with you, onii-chan?" Kiku looked up to Yao hopefully.
"No! Now go home, Kiku, I have a meeting I need to attend!"
"But why? You used to let me -"
"It doesn't matter what I used to do, Kiku, what matters is what I do now! Don't make me say it again, go home!"
Kiku looked hurt, and for a moment Yao regretted snapping at him. But still, he was very busy. War was coming to China, whether he wanted it to or not, and he simply could not have his younger brother following him to meetings. He had to keep Kiku safe.
"Fine." Kiku said shortly, eyes darkening, then turned and headed back to the house. Yao sighed. Kiku may not like it, but Yao was keeping him safe. The only problem was, he did not know how much longer he could do it.
▽
"What are you doing, Kiku?" Yao asked, confused, to a thirteen-year-old Kiku in front of him.
Kiku looked up from his work. "Making a katana." he said simply.
"A what?" Yao yelped. "You - you can't! It's dangerous! You could cut yourself, hurt yourself, you could -"
"I'll be fine, Yao. Stop worrying." Kiku deadpanned. Yao noticed with a pang that Kiku no longer called him onii-chan.
"I can't stop worrying! You're my younger brother!"
Kiku scowled but said nothing.
"Come on, Kiku, why are you doing this? If you really wanted a katana you could have just asked me and I would have made one for you..."
"You make your own weapons. I wanted to do what you do."
"I - well -" Yao spluttered. "You shouldn't do everything I do! I'm much older than you are and you should wait until you're my age -"
Kiku put down his half-made katana and turned around. "Well, fine! I was going to make this for your birthday but if you really don't want it, I guess that's all right! You can make your own birthday present, can't you?" he said angrily, then left the room.
Yao simply stood there, looking back to where Kiku had gone. He'd wanted to make the katana... for him? He suddenly felt terrible for yelling at Kiku, but when he went to apologize he found that Kiku wasn't in the house. Yao knew it wasn't the first time Kiku had left without telling him. He just wished that he knew where Kiku went because, however protective he was of him, it was only because he cared about Kiku more than anything.
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"I'm busy." Fifteen-year-old Kiku muttered without turning around from his manga.
"Aw, come on, Kiku! It's a world meeting! You used to love going to those! You'd practically beg me -"
"Key word: used."
"Nah, you'd still love them... plus, I thought you wanted to do everything I did?" Yao teased proudly. Kiku's hands clenched on the cover of his manga and he turned around.
"I used to, Yao, before I realized how foolish that was. Leave me alone, I'm not going to your stupid meeting."
Yao blinked, shocked, as Kiku returned to his manga without a moment's pause, slipping his earbuds back in. And no matter how much Yao tried to get his attention, Kiku did not react. Eventually, Yao left the room, thoroughly hurt, looking back at Kiku once more before leaving for the world meeting, trying to identify where Kiku had changed. Trying to identify what he had done wrong.
▽
"Just do what I do, Kiku! For once!" Yao yelled. They'd been yelling for the better part of an hour, and Yao could no longer remember what started the fight in the first place.
Kiku cast Yao a look of intense anger. "Oh, I think I've done enough of what you do. Don't even start now, because you've always pushed me away whenever I tried to be like you, or to do something nice for you!"
Yao winced. That stung, but... maybe it was true. Just a bit.
"But Kiku, I know better! You're my younger brother and you should listen to me!" Yao insisted.
"Oh, really? Well, I'm not an idiot, and neither am I your younger brother! You literally found me wandering in a bamboo forest! We're no more related than the floor and the ceiling!" Kiku spat.
Yao gasped. Just because they weren't related by blood didn't mean they weren't family... did it?
"You're... not...?"
"That's right! You know what..." Kiku paused. For just a moment, he looked uncertain. But the fleeting look was gone so fast that Yao decided he'd imagined it. "I've had enough. We are no longer related, and I no longer live here."
"Wait, what?" Yao asked weakly, a dull buzzing in his head, as Kiku stormed up the stairs. Yao heard his door slam open, drawers opening and closing, but he could do nothing about it. He could barely move. Kiku... no longer his brother? That was impossible. Yao would do anything for Kiku. That alone made them family.
Just then, Kiku appeared at the stairs.
"Goodbye, Yao. Don't bother keeping in touch." Kiku scoffed.
"Kiku, wait!" Yao yelled, but the front door had already slammed. Yao sank to his knees in despair, and buried his head in his hands. Kiku was gone. What was he supposed to do?
It was only later, when Yao finally opened the door to Kiku's room, to make sure that he had not dreamed it all and Kiku would simply be sleeping, that he would find nothing there but the furniture and a small framed photo, of a happier Yao and a much younger Kiku, with a small black tuft sticking out of his head like a plant...
▽
Yao stared sadly at Kiku across the table. Kiku, deep in conversation with that Greek, had really grown over the past years...
"Oh my god, Yao! I can't believe it!" Mei, the Taiwanese next to him, giggled madly. "Are you in love with Kiku? He's, like, ages younger than you!"
Yao started and gave Mei an incredulous look. "Are you crazy? He's my..." Then he deflated. "Never mind."
Kiku was no longer Yao's younger brother, he had made that clear. Kiku had also made clear that he did not want anyone who didn't yet know their history to ever know. Yao had followed Kiku's lead, despite the fact that he just wanted to stand on the table and yell that Kiku was still his brother and anyone who wanted to harm him had to go through Yao first.
But he knew he couldn't.
Because Kiku had others now, and Yao was once again left alone...
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Okay, I really don't know about this one. It's a different format than what I usually write, which is a nice guarantee that it sucks. I just felt like writing something about Chibi!Japan, and I wanted to do something other than a shipping one-shot. So here it is.
question: are these questions annoying and should I stop with them