Some Teacher

(4.1) Brother time!

"Oi! Yukine!" Shirota's older brother came up to him the moment he walked in the door. Damn. He'd been hoping to at least get a shower before having to deal with whatever shit Nagone was undoubtedly going to dump on him. He'd just gotten back from the class-trip to the mountain, and if he was being honest, he seriously reeked.

"What's up Nagone?" he asked, barely able to suppress his sigh. "Can we make this quick? I really need a shower."

"Yeah sure, it ain't urgent," Nagone rolled his eyes at his younger brother. "Whatever, we can talk later, I got other shit to do anyway. Come to the base tonight, and don't leave me hanging, little bro."

"Sure." Yukine shrugged and sighed. As his brother walked away, he noticed the handle of a gun sticking out of the back of Nagone's jeans, and he scoffed. Yukine would be the first to admit he was no genius, but even he knew that was a bad idea.

He stopped by his room to drop off his bag and jacket, and then went to wash up. Tonight, huh? Yukine sighed to himself as he began to undress, and adjust the temperature of the water. I wonder what he wants this time? Probably something sketchy. Or maybe he just wants to get on my ass about preparing me for the family business again, like when he taught me to shoot. He stepped under the stream of steaming water, and reached for the soap.

Yukine was of the opinion that two generations did not constitute a "family business." Although, Yukine would have been of the opinion that twenty generations didn't constitute a family business if it meant not being part of Nagone's gang. Not that his opinion mattered anyway.

His brother was grooming him—or at least trying to groom him—to be the perfect second-in-command. Powerful, remorseless, and loyal to a fault. And whether he liked it or not, Yukine had to admit it sort of worked. He was among the best in his class at fighting, and he found he cared less and less about people getting hurt, which honestly scared him. Not to mention, as much as he disliked his brother, they were still brothers, and whenever Nagone needed him, he always helped, if grudgingly.

So even though he didn't want to know what his brother wanted to talk to him about, Yukine was sure that he'd go meet up with him at the base anyway. He wondered vaguely if it had always been like that. He knew that Nagone hadn't always wanted to be a crime lord. There was a time, when he was young, that Nagone had wanted to be an astronaut, but evidently it hadn't lasted very long, because Yukine had no recollection of it.

The scalding water cascaded down his body, rinsing away the last of the soap, then Yukine turned it off and stepped onto the ragged bathmat. He dried his hair and body roughly before wrapping the towel around his waist, and  took off toward his room to get dressed.

On the way out, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, and scowled at the large scar on his abdomen, and the coiled green dragon tattooed on his shoulder. Who knife-spars with a twelve year old, and tattoos him a year later? That asshole. Yeah. Fuck Nagone.

Even so, at eight that evening, Yukine found himself at the door of the shitty crackhouse his brother and his gang called HQ. He let himself in through the front door, knowing no one would stop him. He was the boss' kid brother, after all, and messing with him would result in broken bones at the very least. As he neared the meeting room, he heard his brother's voice, and stopped short, stepping around the corner and pausing to listen.

"The deal is set," Nagone was saying, or rather, Daimondai, as his gang called him. "We're meeting up with our temporary allies next week, and the job goes down five days after that, so be ready. And don't take any shit from them, yeah! They're not better than us!" This was met by cheering, and Daimondai dismissed his crew to go about their business.