The Inazuma Scrapbook

Instincts of an Older Sibling

"Being the eldest of six, Raiden knows how to deal with children."

In which Hijikata slowly becomes the team's older brother.

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Being the eldest of six, Raiden knows how to deal with children. His siblings are so young that he feels like he has become sort of like a parent. Whether it's pranks, squabbles, nightmares, picky eating or anything else, Raiden feels like he has seen it all.

Perhaps that is why, when an uncharacteristically quiet Kogure leaves the cafeteria without leaving chaos in his wake, Raiden feels his internal alarms blaring. Frowning, he makes a mental note to keep an eye on Kogure for the rest of the day. 

Unfortunately, Kogure's mood does not get better today or the day after that or the day after that . He is quiet during practice, not even acknowledging commands verbally — though he does obey them at least. There are no snarky comments to get under other people's skin and motivate them to do better. Most concerning of all, however, is the lack of pranks. 

Usually, not a day starts without someone screaming in frustration because of the crude marker scribbles on their face or because they're sopping wet from a bucket of water balanced meticulously on the door or at an insane amount of spice snuck into an unfortunate soul's breakfast. While it's frustrating to be on the receiving end of Kogure's pranks, they never really fail to make things lively for the rest of them,  even if it is at the expense of whoever Kogure decides is the victim of the day. 

Now, however, it seems that Kogure's mood has hit the rest of the team's morale quite hard — even Endou and Tsunami can't seem to cheer everyone up for long. Heck, Someoka deliberately says something that would usually have Kogure mercilessly poking fun at him for hours, but he receives no reaction from their smallest member. Even Fudou is beginning to shoot Kogure quizzical glances, which is the highest level of care he would ever allow himself to express so openly. 

Thus, when practice ends and Kogure practically flees into his room, Raiden follows him, patting Otonashi's shoulder reassuringly on his way.

He is just about to knock on the door when he hears sniffling from inside, and Raiden decides to skip the part where he has to convince Kogure to let him enter. Opening the door, Raiden enters the barely lit room, frowning when he spots Kogure's slumped form on the edge of the bed.

Raiden had entered the room pretty sure of himself, but now, he has no clue what he was supposed to do. Kogure isn't one who usually needs reassurance or comfort, so this new vulnerable behaviour is an uncharted territory. Mentally, Raiden tells himself off for not letting Otonashi take care of this. She is the only one Kogure would ever be completely honest with.

Some shuffling from the lump on the bed catches Raiden's attention. It seems that Kogure has finally noticed him. "What do you want?"

No going back now.

Raiden walks forward until he is right next to Kogure, who huffs but otherwise doesn't make a move. "I… uh…"

Now that Raiden has made it this far, he has no idea what to say next. He decides to be honest. Kogure is scarily good at telling when people are lying to him — not as good at detecting honesty and genuine concern others might have for him, but he's getting there — and from what Raiden has noticed, Kogure appreciates honesty.