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Kou and Teru cry about the death of their mother together

"Mothers are the one people we love the most. The givers of life and happiness. For most of us, she is the parental figure we can use a shoulder to cry on. Or one to give us advice for when times are tough."

That's what the Minamoto boy's thought on the 11th of May 2008. Kou was only 9 years old then and Teru was 11. It was a sunny spring day where the whole family spent their time joking and laughing. They spent the afternoon doing some sort of finger painting and then ate hot noodles and chicken for lunch. Unfortunately, their father wasn't there to spend the weekend with such a blessing. Instead, he was down in Uji slaying beasts and torturing unwanted ghosts. 

But little did anyone know that only a few months later, the death of their late mother would gradually arrive. And the days leading up to it seemed just as grey as the tone of their mother's face. Her fingers, bony, her smile, weak, her eyes, dingy. She was such a sickly sight, it was hard for the family to come to terms with the sudden circumstances.

And the day the event occured, it was like everything was lost for Kou. The moment the news arrived to him, he felt his knees grow weak. He could feel it, the tsunami wave about to crash. 

Mummy.

The day of the funeral, he couldn't hold it back anymore. He reaches out to her casket as his finger tips glide over the oak case. Teru, behind him, is reaching for his arms. It's like the whole scene was drained in slow motion. Everyone's mouth shape turns to an O, but Kou doesn't manage to open it. He's too far away. He feels the hard floor and the taste of the cloudy carpet only seconds before the darkness comes. And then the wave hits. And it ripples. 

~~~

A curious knock echos through Kou's ear drums. But he ignores it and covers his head with a pillow. He groans as he curls into a smaller ball than before.

"Kou, wake up. You promised you would come back with me today, right?" Teru calls.

After the depressing incidents, Kou couldn't bare to go back to school for a little while. Sadly enough, Teru had no choice. Being his father's one and only pride and joy, he needed to be kept on his toes. And he must keep up with school works. And exorcisms. And everything else. But after what felt like an eternity and a half, Kou agreed to go back.

"Don't wanna.." Kou mumbles as his bedroom door slides open.

"I don't want to walk alone today, come on, it's just a few hours and then you don't have to go tomorrow!" Teru debated, standing by the doorframe.

"Saturday's are buttholes anyway" Kou argues.

"Hey, don't say that word. I know this is hard on you but.."

But Teru ultimately felt jealous. He knew it was an unfair emotion to feel. But the emotion the situation made him feel, was hard too. How could he not endure envy? His brother got to do whatever he wanted while he had to stay in tip top shape. Teru swore, that if he could, and not like he would anyway, he would totally drag Kou by his toes to school.

"Just go.. yo-.." Kou started. But the rest of his claim got jammed in his throat and the only sound he manage to filter out was jittery croaks. 

"I'll walk you to class. I promise." Teru fibbed. 

"No way.. I don't want to. Just stop trying.." Kou cried.

Teru had seriously had enough of protesting and decided to kneel down next to Kou's head. He looked at his brother's obstructed face and aggressively tried to pull his pillow away. After a short struggle of Kou holding onto it, he gave up and let go. Throwing Teru a teary glare, he turned around on his bed and began to sulk like a child. Well, Kou was a child. 

"I'm gonna be waiting all day for you, so don't make my teacher get mad at me.." Teru whined as he sat down right by the foot of Kou's bed and rested his back on the side frame. 

After a few minutes of silence, Kou perked his head up and looked over his shoulder. Teru noticed the silence and looked back at him. Their eyes locked and Kou rolled on over, closer to him.

"Sorry, I just don't wanna.." Kou reasoned, his throat not as clogged as before.

"Can you tell me why?" Teru asked, turning around to face him too.

"People gonna ask me questions.. and I just don't have the energy.." Kou answered honestly in defeat.

"Understandable, but you don't have to tell them anything." Teru said with a reassuring smile. "I never told anyone anything, besides that you weren't feeling well." 

"Why would you talk about me..?" Kou questioned, sitting up.

"Because people asked why you weren't at school. Your classmates care, you know? And.. well.." Teru trailed off.

He couldn't hold back either.

His tears flowed like an icy river and he grabbed onto his shirt for support. Teru's heart ached dramatically for their mother. It was really, truly hard to lose such an important member. And now that he re-realised that yes, his classmates asked about Kou. They didn't even care about Teru. No one knew what Teru was truly thinking, he was too good at wearing a mask to cover everything up. And he knew if he tried to peel the mask off, his skin and flesh would follow through. 

"Ah.." Kou mumbled, he never really saw Teru cry. But the sight of seeing someone he saw as a strong pillar, suddenly crumble like rocks to heavy weights.. it caused his waterworks to flow too. 

"I'm so sorry Kou, I didn't mean to.. I just wa.. wanna.." Teru exclaimed as he used his hands to wipe his streaming tears away. His face grew red from shame, was he seriously becoming this vulnerable in front of Kou? His own brother? 

But Kou never let him finish his unneeded apology and launched off his bed onto his brother like a flying sugar glider. The two tumbled for a moment but Teru sat up quickly and then stared down at his brother with shocked eyes.

"Kou, don't do tha...t?" 

Kou hugged his brother so tightly around his waist Teru thought he might have just crushed a few veins. At this point they were both weeping so much that Teru cupped Kou's face and hugged him close tight. Taking him under his wing. That's how family should be, no?

"Always supporting each other, guiding each other. Sometimes they'll fight and sometimes they'll care. But at the end of the day, you don't get to pick who your family is. And you don't get to pick what happens to them. But your way of interacting is your choice, so choose your moves wisely."

That's something Minamoto Mama told Teru at a young age. And he kept his vows ever since.

It's just too bad that both Teru and Kou were late for school that day.