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Like a kite with a broken string, Yoriichi was brought down to earth by his brother. He blinked, and looked down at the wooden flute in his hands. The figure that stood before him was no longer a set of bones and a bundle of nerves, but his brother’s face, like his own, without the red, fire-like mark.
He followed his brother in the cold autumn air. He wanted to look at him, as he was, and not through him. Now, Yoriichi knew that his ability was not something that anyone else had. It was something that he was born with. He thought of the remarks that had been directed at him through whispers and glares, that he was a symbol of bad luck and the gods’ displeasure with their clan.
“Don’t listen to them.” Michikatsu had told him. “ You are strong .” Stronger than me. He left that part unsaid, but Yoriichi could…sense it. His brother felt inferior to him, which made no sense. Michikatsu had always been the one protecting him. Playing with him. Just being near him, when no one else, other than their mother, was willing to be near him.
“In my dreams.” He started, as Michikatsu walked in front of them, sword against his hip. “We were…older.”
Michikatsu turned. “They were just dreams. Don’t think too much about them.”
His brother’s heart was beating faster. The muscles in his fingers trembled. The flow of blood in his vessels. How could Yoriichi not think much of his dreams?
“You left.” In his dreams, Yoriichi would chase after his brother, always a retreating figure. His hand held out in front of him, but each time he caught up to Michikatsu, he would disappear, become out of his reach, fade into the mist. And then…and then, a figure, with six eyes and fangs, would raise its head from darkness, and Yoriichi would wake with his heart pounding and an ache in his chest that only faded when he saw that Michikatsu was with him still.
“And I saw…something. Something with six eyes.” Michikatsu stopped. His heart beat faster in his chest, so fast Yoriichi was worried it might burst. His lungs filled with air, and then deflated at a quicker pace.
“Six eyes.” His brother replied, voice flat. "You saw...something with six eyes."
“Yes. I…don’t really know what it meant, but…” he felt his heart break into pieces, a piercing, physical pain that shattered in his chest. When those eyes looked at him, and then looked away.
“I won’t leave.” Michikatsu said. “I promise.”
“Michikatsu…”
“They’re just dreams, Yoriichi.” His brother hesitated for a moment, before taking Yoriichis’ hand into his own. “I won’t leave.” Something warm and comforting settled into Yoriichi’s chest. He smiled, and held on to his brother. The brother that flew kites with him and played with him, who had spent time with him when no one else but their mother would. This , he thought. Is how brothers should be . Yoriichi decided to put the contents of his troubling dreams behind him.