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The plan starts out in stages. It’s not written down on paper, or carefully mapped out, but there’s a plan that Rinne has been building since the day he wandered into the city, and decided that he will carve his place there.
But there’s always been a problem in every draft that he’d come up with. A little, irritating wrinkle here and there that couldn’t be fleshed out, no matter how hard he thought about it. He’d tried so many different methods just to ensure that his escape to the village will leave him successful and satisfied, far away from the traditions and expectations that made him restless, but none of them felt right.
And it always went back to Hiiro, his beloved younger brother. When he finally realised just why he could never bring himself to accomplish his goals of leaving the village once and for all, he was in the midst of teaching his brother how to fold an origami crane. Their father was out of the house for a night, and Rinne had taken it upon himself to show his brother his creations after his younger brother had been subjected to a harsh punishment for failing to hit bullseye on a target for archery practice. He missed one (one!) shot out of the multiple that he took, and for that his instructor found reason to hit him.
Rinne had found his brother holding in his tears as he tried to scrub the dried blood from his arms. After cleaning and bandaging his wounds, they’d spent hours folding origami deep into the night, and by the end of it, Hiiro had an arm full of origami creations that he couldn’t ever keep, lest they get found and the elders had another excuse to abuse him again.
Seeing Hiiro’s excited smile as he finished the first origami crane, Rinne realised the problem that tied him down to the Amagi village that he so despised - his precious younger brother, who later gave Rinne the first crane that he crafted gently, declaring that it was a gift for his older brother.
From the day his mother placed a crying Hiiro in his arms, with his squishy face and big, bubbly eyes that knows nothing of the burdens that will eventually be forced upon him, he knew he would do anything for the baby cradled in his arms.
She had passed the baby to Rinne despite the village nurse’s protests. “ This is your younger brother, Rinne. Promise me that you’ll take care of him?”
He didn’t need his mother’s dying words to love his brother. He’ll do anything for his brother, even if Hiiro disagrees with it. Hiiro didn’t know any better. From young, he’s been taught to follow and obey every word that comes out of Rinne and his father’s mouths, even if it demands for his death. Hiiro clings onto every sentence of Rinne’s like his life depended on it, as if Rinne personally hung the stars and the moon.
Isit really liberation for Hiiro if that is what Rinne demanded of him?
Will Rinne be saving Hiiro, or bringing him into another hell?
They can figure that out later, once they made it to the city.
For the final alteration to his plan, he adds this: Bring Hiiro with me, no matter what.
-
“Hiiro,” Rinne whispers into the quiet room, knowing that his younger brother is awake and feigning being asleep, likely roused by the sound of Rinne’s footsteps entering his room. Hiiro hasn’t quite mastered the art of pretending, his forced breathing patterns coming out awkward as he twitches lightly. “It’s me. Wake up.”
There’s a shuffle beneath the duvet, before Hiiro sits up cautiously. “Nii-sama? What are you doing here at this time?”
“I have a question for you.” Rinne kneels down beside Hiiro. “Do you trust me?”
Hiiro’s answer is immediate. “Yes!”
“And hypothetically, if I told you that I will be leaving the village, will you come with me?”
Hiiro nods eagerly. “Of course! The Amagi leader should never be without his aid!” He recites it dutifully, as if every word has been carefully etched into his tongue and teeth, and it makes Rinne want to throw up. He wants to scrub Hiiro’s brain of every single thing he’d been taught regarding their village - his duty as an aid and how his life should only be devoted to serving Rinne until his final breath.
Rinne sucks in a deep breath. “Then take anything you want now,” he says determinedly, “We’re leaving for the city.”
Hiiro finally hesitates, his expressions scrunching into one of confusion. Rinne can't help the tinge of relief that seeps into his worry. “...But the village. Don’t they need you?”
You, not us.
Hiiro didn’t even consider himself important to be worth keeping in the village. “No, they don’t. They don’t deserve either of us. I want you to make this decision for yourself, Hiiro. Do you want to come with me to the city? I can’t promise you that it’ll be easy, but we’ll always be together there. There won’t be any elders breathing down our necks, or any instructors taking out their anger on you. It’ll be difficult, but we’ll be free from,” he waves his hands around, “all this. We’ll have each other.”
He gives his younger brother a softer smile, and places a light hand on his brother’s fluffy hair. “I won’t hold it against you if you don’t want to come too. I want you to make this decision for yourself, not as the aide to Amagi Rinne, not as the second son of the Amagi family. I want you, Hiiro, to think about it and make your choice.”
“What I want…” Hiiro’s voice trails off. His eyes dart away from Rinne’s, deep in contemplation as he toys with the duvet - an unconscious, nervous habit that the elders tried to train out of Hiiro, but never succeeded in doing so in the presence of Rinne.
He won’t ever willingly let them lay a hand on his younger brother, but that hasn’t stopped many from trying (and unfortunately, succeeding.) After all, why should some fidgeting prevent a kid from doing his absolute best in a role he was forced into from birth?
“Yes, Hiiro. It’s about what you want. Don’t think about father, or the elders, or me. Just yourself.”
The room lapses into silence as Rinne gives Hiiro the space to process and make his decision. Hiiro’s face is unreadable as he continues twisting and releasing the duvet between his fingers, lips pressed into a thin line.
Deep down, Rinne wishes he could drag Hiiro out with him, like he originally planned to. He made an elaborate plan that included knocking Hiiro out and forcefully carrying him to the train station, but then scrapped that almost immediately.
He will be no better than the village if he went down such a path. He’d rather die than turn out like his father.
After another minute, Hiiro cocks his head. “Then, I want to be with you.” He declares with finality, meeting Rinne’s eyes. “I’ll go with you to the city.”
Rinne reaches over to pull his younger brother into his arms, gripping him tightly as he ruffles the fluffy mess on Hiiro’s head. “I want you to know that regardless of what you chose, I would’ve been proud of you for making your own decision. No matter what.”
Hiiro leans into Rinne’s arms, nodding his head as he buries his face in his older brother’s chest.
“Come on, Hiiro. Let’s leave this place together.”
-
The city is cold and cruel where the village is not, yet Rinne can’t bring himself to regret escaping into the city. The freedom that greets him as he steps onto the platform, Hiiro’s hand gripped tightly in Rinne’s, his eyes widening in awe as they’re greeted by the neon flashboards and the highrise building.
They wander around the city, going into every cheap motel within their budget until someone is finally willing to accept a suspicious pair of kids on a weekday with almost nothing on their backs. The receptionist eyes them warily as Rinne carries a sleepy Hiiro on his back. Hiiro donning his traditional outfit certainly didn’t help them ward off any additional scrutiny, but Rinne’s city clothes were definitely too big for him, and he wanted his brother to have something to hold onto as they left the village. It won’t be fair to take this away from him this early on, after throwing him into a new environment.
-
Rinne finds a job.
It’s a small little cafe sitting on the edge of an alleyway that Rinne and Hiiro happened to duck into when it started pouring.
Rinne, who hasn’t managed to scrounge up enough money for an umbrella, has been using his only other extra jacket to shield Hiiro. They’ve been out searching for jobs that a kid with no proof of identification or certification could do, and there’s no way that Rinne will have left Hiiro alone in the sketchy motel while he left.
He quickly breathes a sigh of relief as he glances through the windows to be greeted by dimly lit lights. Rinne hastily yanks the door open, causing the bells to jingle noisily as he ushers Hiiro through the door.
“Oh dear, are the two of you alright?” A warm voice comes from behind the counter. A lady walks out, eyes softening as she takes in the appearance of the brothers. She quickly gestures to one of the tables nearest to them and beckons them over. “Please, take a seat! Niki-kun, please get a spare towel from the back!”
Rinne, despite the lady’s beckoning, remains rooted to his spot at the entrance, awkwardly dripping water all over the wooden floor. Hiiro is in a slightly better situation thanks to the jacket tied around his head, but his usually fluffy hair now droops over his eyes, and he has a nervous death grip on Rinne’s jeans, fearful of the new environment and the strangers that it comes with.
“We’re wet, so it’ll be better if we just…stand here.” Mostly because Rinne definitely couldn’t afford anything at the cafe, and he didn’t want to feel indebted to his nice lady who took pity on them. “We’ll be on our way the moment the rain lightens up. Sorry for ruining your floorboards.” He adds apologetically.
The lady shakes her head. “It’s quite alright! Sit, sit,” she insists. “The floor always gets dirty after the rain anyways. People have trekked in worse, you know!”
“Okay…Thank you.” Rinne lightly nudges Hiiro, who finally loosens his grip on his pants to grab at Rinne’s hand. They walk over to the table, and Rinne quickly lifts Hiiro and sits him on a chair before doing so himself. He knows his brother is perfectly capable of climbing up the seats by himself, but he wants to pamper him now that he’s allowed to - now that he’s free to do so with no consequences.
The lady walks over with a smile and points to the chair across them. “May I sit?”
“The store’s yours, miss.” Rinne jokes lightly, getting a laugh out of her as she sits down.
There’s the sound of a door slamming open as a grey-haired kid with long hair runs out, two folded towels in his arms. “That’s all I could find, boss!” He extends a hand, holding out the towels towards Hiiro with a kind smile.
From the corner of his eye, Rinne spots as Hiiro quickly tenses up at the sight of the newcomer’s hands. Hiiro’s body straightens as his eyes dart between Rinne’s and the towels, almost as if he’s preparing to jump in front of Rinne and give up his life to defend him from the harmless pieces of cloth.
Rinne decides to move first. He quickly takes the towels from the boy with a grateful nod, handing one to Hiiro to distract him before his younger brother can act impulsively and jump the nice kid.
“Ah, thank you, Niki-kun! Grab a cup of warm cocoa for them too, will you? So sorry to make you run around so much!” Before Rinne can open his mouth to protest and decline the offer, because the prices in this cafe are definitely way above their budget, the boy is off and running again. The lady gives him a wink. “It’s on the house. Consider it a thank you for sitting down instead of standing there at the entrance. Really, I would’ve felt worse if you’d just bolted out the door while it was still raining!”
Rinne gives a small nod, repeating his thanks and turning to Hiiro. “What should we say to this nice lady?”
“Thank you.” Hiiro says solemnly, dipping his head. If the lady is surprised by how stoic a 9 year old boy can be, she doesn’t say anything, merely humming in response.
The door to the kitchen opens again as the grey-haired boy reappears with three cups of steaming cocoa. “Enjoy!” The boy says cheerfully, placing the cups down with a clink before immediately vanishing into the kitchen again.
“So what were you doing in the rain?” The lady asks gently as she pushes two cups over to Hiiro and Rinne. Hiiro turns to Rinne again like clockwork, silently asking for permission to take the drink. Rinne resists the urge to sigh and instead takes a sip of the cocoa from the cup. Almost as if on command, Rinne watches as Hiiro immediately takes a few sips of the cocoa, before returning his attention to the lady.
“Just some good ol’ brotherly bonding. Unfortunate that the rain caught us first, eh?” Rinne cackles, the lies falling through his teeth with ease.
“Yes, how unfortunate…” she hums mindlessly, almost as if she’s thinking about something else. Her eyes flicker between Hiiro’s traditional gown and Rinne’s face, and Rinne sees the exact moment where the jig is up. “Excuse my rudeness, but you’re not from around here, are you?” She questions with a knowing tone.
Their accent must’ve given them away. “....Yeah, we’re from the countryside. I wanted to bring my brother to the city and show him around.”
“Hm…” she cocks her head to the side, regarding Rinne carefully, absentmindedly tucks her hair behind her ears as she continues, “Let me guess: You ran away from your home with your brother and decided to come to the city to start a new life.” At the shocked expression on Rinne’s face, she laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ve seen many runaways in my time here! It’s not as uncommon as you think.”
“...I needed out. We needed out.” After a moment’s hesitation, he stands and bows deeply, startling everyone at the table, before adding with a hint of desperation, “please don’t report us to the authorities. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as the rain stops. I’ll pay you if I have to. I’ll do anything.” He’s prepared to get down on his knees and beg if he has to. It may have been unbecoming as the heir of an entire village, but his only priority right now is to make sure that neither of them gets sent back to the village and his father.
She claps her hands together. “None of that around here! I won’t be calling any authorities, and there’s no need to pay me back for any of that.” She pauses for a moment, letting the words sink in as Rinne hesitantly lifts his head. She taps her fingers on the table, deep in thought, before looking back at the boys before her. “Listen, if you’re willing, you could work here for me. I’ve been looking for a little assistant to help me when it’s busy, but no one’s been responding to my calls. Your brother can stay too: There’s an extra room in the back that he can stay in while you work, so you won’t have to worry about finding a daycare for him - besides, he seems well-mannered enough.” she nods approvingly at Hiiro as she finishes her final sentence.
Rinne thinks he’s going to get whiplash from the rollercoaster of events. His heartbeat calms down as he considers the offer. It will definitely provide Rinne with a stable source of income, but the offer is scarily considerate of Rinne and Hiiro’s unusual situation. It’s almost too good to be true.
“What’s in it for you? No one’s this generous for a couple of stray brats that wander into their place.” Rinne spits accusingly, a hand instinctively reaching towards Hiiro. He knows it's stupid of him to be this aggressive towards someone who’s possibly giving them a way out of their plight, but he can’t bring himself to trust anyone in the city.
The city is cold and cruel.
The cafe, on the other hand, is warm and homey.
The lady, like the angel she is, simply gives him another smile. “Every kid deserves a chance at freedom. That’s all. Are you in or not?”
And just like that, Amagi Rinne lands his first job as a waiter in the city.
-
Life gets much easier after Rinne starts working. They no longer have to worry about rent, since Rinne finally has the means to pay the motel fees, which means that he’s finally able to get Hiiro some better fitting clothes appropriate for the city.
His brother silently sulked when Rinne first asked him to try on some new clothes. Rinne should’ve been glad that his brother was showing some signs of rebellion and autonomy, if it didn’t mean that he would be on the receiving end of his ire. They eventually compromised and Hiiro got to keep his earrings with his new shirts and jeans.
Rinne isn’t quite able to curb his shock when he finds out that the kid with the ponytail that he first saw at the cafe is the chef - and a genius at his job. Shiina Niki is in his final year of middle school, and plans to go straight to working full time the moment he graduates.
(And just like them, he’s living by himself. Rinne doesn’t ask for information, and Shiina doesn’t offer any.)
Shiina is a godsend, because meals have gone from bento boxes bought from convenience stores to carefully handcrafted dishes that would put other professionals to shame. The chef clearly has a favourite brother, doting on Hiiro dearly and always sneaking him an extra piece of dessert or pastry for him to try.
Hiiro, unused to the foreign concept of favouritism, will sneak a look at Rinne’s dessert-less plate and silently push his own plate towards his older brother. Shiina and Rinne will in turn exchange a knowing look, before they compromise with Hiiro by halving the dessert. Rinne will take a bite out of the smaller half and pass the rest to Shiina, who’s always grateful and swallows everything else down in one or two mouthfuls.
The job gives them money, and Shiina’s generous contributions to their daily meals has made living in the city much more affordable, but Rinne wants to move out of the motel. He doesn’t want Hiiro to live like this - for his first experience of the city life to consist of a singular room that’s much smaller than even the servant’s bedroom back at the village, and to consistently live in fear of their motel door getting kicked in and getting their items stolen when they’re away from the room.
Especially after an incident where someone tried breaking down their door while screaming threats in the middle of the night, sending both Amagi brothers into a frenzied panic. Hiiro immediately got up and ran for the door with a knife in his hands, but Rinne had to pull him back and order him to stay as far as possible for the boy to finally listen.
Rinne used his body to block the door from being broken down, while trying to explain to their unwanted guest that he was looking for the wrong room. It took a few minutes before the stranger eventually left, and went to terrorise the room a few doors down instead. They were both heavily shaken up by that incident, and immediately demanded for a room change the following day, but Rinne knew that he had to move out for Hiiro to get any sense of the normalcy that he wanted for his brother.
-
“What’re you doing?” Niki asks, watching curiously as Rinne counts whatever bills there are left in his hastily bundled together stash. The multi-coloured notes are laid out across the table as Hiiro sleeps peacefully on his right, leaning into his shoulders and snoring softly.
“Budgeting.” Rinne replies shortly. “I want us to move out.”
“Oh,” the grey-haired boy tilts his head curiously. “Why don’t you come stay with me?”
A confused noise falls from Rinne’s mouth. He gives the other boy an incredulous look, prompting him to continue explaining himself. “My parents aren’t home, and I have an extra bedroom. Otouto-kun’s already tiny enough, you can’t let him starve! Besides, Nii-chan, you’re not doing too well yourself, right? I can hear your stomach grumbling from the kitchen!”
Rinne sighs. In all honesty, staying with Niki would probably be the safest option for Hiiro, considering how much Hiiro loves following the chef around in the kitchen, and his younger brother wouldn’t have to tiptoe around the area with his guard up, but it’s an unrealistic dream for them. “Listen kid, I appreciate the offer, but I can’t possibly afford to rent a proper room. Love the job, but I’m not making enough here to do that, and Hiiro needs money to go to school too. Another motel will do for now.”
Niki frowns, and he looks a little hurt as he exclaims, “I’m not going to take your money!”
Rinne continues shuffling the notes. “You should rent it to someone else who might need it, Shiina. Become a landlord and live freely! Invest in those…stocks things, or something! Then when you strike rich and make it big, you can open your own chain of restaurants and become a millionaire chef.” Like those reality TV shows that he and Hiiro had been watching on the shitty television.
“But it’s too much of a hassle.” Niki wrinkles his nose. “And I have enough money anyways. I don’t need anymore as long as I can get enough food!”
“More money means you can buy more food.”
“Yeah, but there’s no point in buying more food when it’s just…me,” The chef mumbles miserably, averting his eyes. “It always spoils too fast for me to cook everything. I could always cook for two more. It’s no trouble for me, really.”
Rinne suddenly feels a little bad for the boy sitting before him, hunched over and playing with the ends of his ponytail. He thinks he can understand the pang of loneliness that also followed him for years before he managed to reunite with his brother outside of formal events and eyes that carefully watched and reported their every interaction to his father.
Somewhere along the way, ‘Shiina’ has quickly become ‘Niki’. He is now somewhat of a precious friend to Rinne. The chef solidified his importance in the Amagi brothers’ lives the day Niki let down his hair and let a curious Hiiro practice braiding, laughing off his sincere apologies when it turned out to be a tangled mess. Or maybe it was the day that Rinne spent a little too much money on a new toy for Hiiro, and decided he would not eat on the following days to make up for the loss, only for Niki to forcefully invite them over to his house so that he could cook dinner once he heard Rinne’s stomach growling after closing up the cafe together.
Fuck it. “….There’s really nothing in it for you, you know?”
“I get to cook for more people,” Niki beams. “My dad’s always told me that food tastes better when it’s shared!”
-
Moving into Niki’s house is a quick affair. The Amagi brothers didn’t bring much from the village anyways, and they always made sure to bring most of their valuables out with them in the tiny haversack that Rinne carries whenever they left the motel for safety.
They move into the guest room next to Niki’s.
Well, it’s their room now, if Niki isn’t lying and does intend for them to stay there for the rest of their lives. Or until he grows sick of Rinne’s antics, but he trusts that the younger boy will never have the heart to kick Hiiro out with him.
The room is fitted with a simple queen-size mattress and a cabinet. It’s already much cleaner compared to the water-stained walls that they had to deal with at the motel, and the smell of mould that was haunting the air is finally replaced by the warm aroma of freshly cooked meals.
The best improvement, however, is the lack of tension in Hiiro’s shoulders and the newfound curiosity in his eyes at getting to experience what it’s like to finally live properly in the city. It’s in the way he gingerly taps on Niki’s old tablet and sits in front of the washing machines, eyes widened as the clothes spin in front of him. It’s almost as if Hiiro no longer saw the city as the hostile, foreign environment he’s been wary of for the past months, and has started embracing it as his new…home.
From the day that the Amagi brothers moved in, Rinne and Niki immediately began alternating their shifts to ensure that Hiiro wouldn’t be left at home alone. They didn’t want him to feel abandoned or forgotten, especially after moving into another new place so soon. They manage to quickly work out a schedule with the boss: Niki goes to work in the morning and prepares the food, and returns home by mid-afternoon. Rinne will then spend the morning with Hiiro watching the television while having breakfast, before bringing him to the nearby playground so that his brother can make a few friends closer to his age.
Later, when Niki reaches home, Rinne will rush to the cafe and work the closing shift. Niki will cook dinner for Hiiro, keeping a bowl for Rinne to heat up when he comes home, and introduce the boy to some of the textbooks Niki had previously used for school.
But even with their regular schedule, Hiiro is still scared. That’s abundantly clear, especially given his refusal to sleep if Rinne is out of sight. They want Hiiro to sleep early, like any kid his age should be doing, but he refuses to even leave the living room if Rinne is still at work. Hell, Rinne could be doing some last minute laundry, and return to their room only to find Hiiro sitting silently in the dark, unwilling to even rest his head on the pillows in fear of his brother never returning.
A few weeks in the city, and Hiiro has already become scarily dependent on Rinne’s presence. In the beginning, Rinne was happy that his brother showed that much trust in him, especially when considering that Rinne quite literally uprooted him from everything he’s ever known to bring him to a new place out of pure selfishness, but it’s become a topic of concern to both of the older boys.
It’s been on the top of Rinne and Niki’s list of ‘things we need to help Hiiro with’, amongst other topics like ‘how to converse normally with other children’ and ‘introducing the concept of school’.
Rinne’s been trying to work out a compromise with his brother, even suggesting that Niki sleeps beside Hiiro on the nights where he comes home late - but his brother adamantly refused, instead preferring to simply huddle beside Niki on the couch as they wait for the click of the door being unlocked.
“I think he’s scared of you leaving,” Niki mumbles one night, mindlessly patting Hiiro’s head as he snores away in the dimmed bedroom. The chef sits on the side of the bed, watching as Rinne flitters around the room, looking for his last pair of socks that he really needs for work the next day.
It’s not his fault the washing machine always finds a way to eat them.
“Leaving?” Rinne echoes confusedly. “I’m not going anywhere without him.”
Niki hums thoughtfully. “I’ve been thinking-”
“Niki-kyun, thinking? Man, did you eat something weird today?” The older boy mocks lightly, dodging as a stray pillow is thrown his way.
“Let me finish!” Niki hisses quietly, careful not to jostle Hiiro awake. “You mentioned it a few nights ago. That meanie father of yours stopped the both of you from meeting the moment Hiiro-kun was three, right?”
“Yeah. He did.” Rinne remembers that day. He remembers begging his father not to separate them, swearing that their priorities would always be to the village and that he’d do anything, anything to keep his brother close to him. He kneeled on the floor and cried for the first time in years as his younger brother was taken away to another part of the village. All he received for his desperation was swollen fingers and a bruised body, and a brother who would be returned to him a few years later with no spark of recognition in his dull eyes.
“Maybe he’s scared of that happening again. He probably remembers being separated from you against his will - maybe he still thinks that everything’s happening is too good to be true, and you’ll be taken from him again.” Niki deflates, a hint of pity creeping in his tone as he continues, “I think I would feel like that if I was in Otouto-kun’s shoes. I would be scared of losing the only good thing that’s happened to me for a long time too.”
The idea comes to him on a rare day where both he and Niki are off work. They decide to introduce Hiiro to the arcade at the nearby mall, avoiding it earlier on as they were worried about frightening Hiiro with the overstimulation. Hiiro’s sandwiched between the two of them, insistent on holding both of their hands as they walk down the aisle with the claw machines.
“See any that you like, Hiiro? There’s so many cute animals here, aren't there?” Rinne prompts, trying to get Hiiro to point out a toy that he likes. It’s been an uphill struggle trying to figure out his brother’s new likes and interests, given his brother’s naturally reserved nature and tendency to glare at an item he likes until either of the older boys catch onto it rather than ask for it directly.
“Hm…That fox,” Hiiro says, letting go of Rinne’s hand to point to a stuffed toy fox sitting in a claw machine further down the aisle. He looks up at Rinne. “It looks like you, Nii-san.”
“Really?” Rinne laughs. “I don’t see the resemblance.”
“It does look like you, Rinne-kun!” Niki teases, giving Hiiro a wink. “Look, we just need to add your hairband to it, and it’ll become your long-lost twin!”
Rinne’s about to refute it with a snarky remark when he hears a tiny voice yell out from afar. “Ah, Hiiro-kun!” A blonde kid runs up to Hiiro, excitedly jumping up and down. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
Hiiro’s eyes light up. “Aira…You’re here too!”
“That idol game machine I was telling you about just released some new cards, and I wanna get them. Come with me, I’ll show you how to play!”
“Oh…” He looks up at Rinne and Niki hesitantly. “May I…?”
Rinne immediately empties his pocket of all the arcade-currency coins available and dumps them in Hiiro and Aira’s tiny hands, the latter letting out a shocked squeak at the sheer number of coins in his hands. “Come back to us if you need anymore, ‘kay? I’ll entrust you with Hiiro, so take good care of him for us, Aira-chan.”
Aira gives him a confident nod, and nudges at Hiiro. “Let’s go!”
“Enjoy yourself, Otouto-kun!” Niki calls, giving the two boys a cheerful wave as they quickly scamper off to the other end of the arcade.
Rinne turns to Niki. “Give me your coins, Niki.”
“Ehhhh?”
“We’re getting that fox.”
“These machines are a scam, Rinne-kun.” Niki complains, but digs into his pockets in search of a few spare coins. It’s quickly handed over to Rinne, who starts calculating the number of chances he has at grabbing the toy.
“I know! But you saw his face. He really wanted that toy.” Rinne says, squinting at the fox sitting near the edge of the drop as he fiddles with one of the coins. “I’ll get it for him.”
“Do you even know how these machines work, Rinne-kun?” Niki asks doubtfully, watching as the older boy drops a few coins into the machine.
“Yeah yeah, I got it! Just watch and learn from the best!”
Rinne does not get the toy. The claw pathetically brushes the toy before retreating back to its spot at the top. He huffs, ignoring Niki’s indignant comment of “I told you it’s a scam”, and inserts more coins into the machine.
Rinne tries again. And again and again, but the claw never manages to pick up the fox. It sits there mockingly and unmoving, never willing to budge even as Rinne changes his strategy and tries to push it towards the drop instead.
Amagi Rinne, defeated by a stupid fox plushie and the weak claws of a claw machine.
When he’s down to his last few coins, he lets out a long, painful groan and slams his head against the plastic walls of the machine. “It’s not even budging!” he yells angrily.
“I don’t know what you expected,” Niki sighs, giving Rinne a pitiful pat on his back, “my parents told me to always avoid the claw machines if their claws look weak.”
“I won’t be defeated by the stupid claw,” Rinne grumbles, glaring at the fox irritatedly. “I have enough for one more try anyways.”
“Lemme try!” Niki grabs the coins from the counter and inserts them into the machine. The cheery music starts up again as Niki fiddles with the joystick, jerking and spinning the claw around in a similar fashion to how the other teenagers around them have been doing it.
Rinne turns away, unexpectant and prepared to head back to the coin exchange to grab more arcade currency when he hears a loud gasp from the chef. “Rinne-kun! Look, look!”
He jerks his head back to see Niki crouched, hugging the fox plushie in his arms as he stares at it with bewilderment. “I got it!”
Rinne immediately tackles Niki with a hug, causing the both of them to crash into the claw machine as Niki yelps in surprise.
“Niki, you’re the best!”
“Get off me before we get kicked out for being nuisances, you idiot!”
-
The fox is gifted to Hiiro the moment they get home. It was a struggle trying to squeeze the large stuffed animal into Niki’s tiny bag without Hiiro noticing, but they managed to do it before the younger boy and his friend realised anything unusual as they came running back after finishing their coins.
“Here you go, Hiiro!” Rinne declares, pulling the fox toy out of the bag the moment the door falls shut behind them. “Your own little mini me-fox!”
Wordlessly, Hiiro reaches over, fingers trembling as he pulls fox-Rinne into his arms with stars in his eyes. He hugs it close to his chest, eyes flickering between Rinne and Niki. “Is it for me?”
“Of course! Who else would appreciate a fox-me as much as you do, hm?” Rinne jokes, before feeling a heavy force crash into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. “What-“
His brother, who’s always shied away from physical touch, wraps his arms around Rinne’s waist tightly, squeezing him as if his brother would disappear if he even loosened his grip. His face is shoved into his shirt as he murmurs, “Thank you for taking me with you.”
Rinne fumbles for something to say, but his mouth is suddenly dry and there’s no words that can convey the overwhelming love that swells in his chest and threatens to overflow as he glances down at his dear brother.
His eye catches on Niki’s proud smile as he sweeps the room in an attempt to ignore the bittersweet pinch in his chest. In a fit of desperation, he redirects the attention to the chef, because he thinks he’s gonna start bawling if Hiiro says anything else. “You should thank your dear Niki-nii too, y’know? He was the one that managed to grab the toy at the end!”
Hiiro quickly lifts his head from Rinne’s shirt, hands still remaining unwavering firm on Rinne as he smiles at Niki. “Thank you, Niki-nii-san!”
He’s never called Niki by ‘nii-san’ before, despite Rinne’s numerous attempts at encouraging the younger to do so.
A loud gasp escapes Niki as he processes the new nickname. “Hiiro-kun!” the chef wails, lunging forward blindly and kneeling down to gather the little boy into another hug. Hiiro releases an arm from his older brother, and instead wraps it around Niki’s neck in a half-hug.
Rinne finally kneels down to join the hug pile as he gives Hiiro a light pat on his head, his voice coming out shaky as he murmurs, “You’re a good boy, Hiiro.”
They stay in that position for a while more, basking in the moment as Niki gleefully pulls Hiiro against his chest in another hug while Rinne gently combs through Hiiro’s curls with his fingers in a comforting repetition.
When Rinne finally feels Hiiro’s arms loosening around him, he decides it’s time for them to migrate to the couch before he loses all feeling in his legs from kneeling for so long.
“Stop crying, Niki-kyun! You’re getting your snot all over me.” Rinne complains as he lifts Hiiro into his arms, moving him and fox-Rinne to the couch.
“You’re crying too!” Niki whines defiantly.
“I’m not!” Rinne hisses, rubbing at his swollen eyes. “Actually, you should comfort me and make us all beef bowls for dinner!”
“Ehh?”
“..Please, Niki-nii-san?” A meek voice comes from the couch.
The timid request has Niki immediately putting on his apron and dragging Rinne with him to the kitchen.
In the end, Niki caved and made beef bowls for dinner, much to the happiness of the Amagi brothers.
-
To no one’s surprise, fox-Rinne has become a staple in Hiiro’s life.
“He’s been taking it everywhere.” Niki comments cheerfully as he folds one of his newly-washed aprons. “He even asked if the fox could join us in the kitchen! Look, look!”
Niki’s phone is shoved into Rinne’s hands. The picture in the gallery is of Niki throwing up a peace sign in the cafe’s kitchen while Hiiro stands further in the background, the fox’s paw awkwardly lifted up by Hiiro in what’s supposed to be a waving gesture.
“It’s all because you placed that dumb mini headband on its head,” Rinne grumbles, ignoring the petty sting of jealousy that strikes his heart at the thought of being replaced by an inanimate toy as he pulls a stack of Hiiro’s unfolded laundry towards himself, “he’s gonna replace me with that dumb fox, and it’ll be your fault.”
“Well, it’s much cuter than you, and it doesn’t bully me as much as you do…”
“Talk anymore and I’ll cut off your ponytail in your sleep!” Rinne threatens with a low laugh.
Niki lets out an ‘eep!’ and scoots further away from Rinne. “Don’t touch my hair, you brute!”
A head pops out of the toilet. “Nii-san, I like Niki-nii-san’s hair. Could you please not cut it?”
“Maybe if it stops ending up in my mouth during movie nights!” Rinne shoots a glare towards Niki. “Seriously, can you keep it in check?”
“It’s not my fault your mouth keeps ending up near my hair!”
“You’re blaming me now? You little-“
“Don’t you have a shift to get to?” Niki quickly changes the topic, pulling his hair into a ponytail with a stray hair band he found on the floor. “Go get changed before the manager finally fires you for being late again!”
Rinne lets out an offended gasp as he clutches his chest dramatically. “She won’t fire me, I’m her best employee!”
“Best at threatening to cut my hair..” Niki mutters, before disappearing into the kitchen to prepare dinner, much to Rinne’s amusement.
-
“Don’t stay up late waiting for me, ‘kay? Little boys like you need their sleep to grow taller!” Rinne pulls on his sneakers and gives Hiiro an encouraging look like he always does before a late day shift. Anything to get Hiiro to sleep without his presence. “Niki-kun will be here with you, so don’t be afraid to look for him if anything’s wrong.”
And just like any other day, Hiiro nods, eyes shining with resolve, and gives his usual word to do so as he echoes Rinne’s words. “I’ll sleep early.”
Except this time, fox-Rinne is in his arms, a paw raised by Hiiro to give human-Rinne a goodbye wave.
Seeing Hiiro carry around fox-Rinne in real life does something to his head, because he finds himself no longer jealous, but rather quite endeared and having to resist the urge to squeal as a teenage boy by how his brother’s been treating the fox.
“That’s the spirit!” Rinne laughs, giving fox-Rinne a pat with a hand and ruffling Hiiro’s hair with another. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Raising his voice, he shouts in a mocking tone, “And goodbye to you too, my precious Niki-kyun!”
“Stop being embarrassing, you’ll give the neighbours the wrong idea!” Niki pouts from his spot in the living room. “Come on, Otouto-kun, let’s watch your favourite show and ignore that meany instead!”
“Okay, Niki-nii-san.” Hiiro says, before turning back and giving Rinne another wave. “Bye, Nii-san.”
Rinne allows himself one more final wave before letting the door fall shut behind him, audibly sighing as he gears himself up for another awful dinner-rush at work and a sleepless night for his brother.
At least Hiiro will have a new companion with him to go through the night with.
-
It’s almost 1 in the morning by the time Rinne manages to reach the doorstep of the apartment. He unlocks the door, quietly pushing the front door open as he stumbles into the living room, throwing his work bag onto the floor and tearing off his jacket in the process.
The television is off and the living room is tidied of Hiiro’s toys and the leftover laundry from earlier, devoid of its usual residents. Rinne assumes that Niki has probably sent Hiiro off to bed - even if today is like any other day where the younger boy isn’t able to quite fall asleep without him around, but Niki’s usually laid across the couch, waiting for the older boy to come home with the television turned on to a low volume.
He’s starting to grow concerned at the lack of a Shiina Niki when a shadow finally rounds the corner and tugs at his sleeves. “Rinne-kun, you’re back!” Niki whispers excitedly. “Come with me!”
“Give a man a break,” Rinne mumbles, fearing an incoming headache at Niki’s energy this late in the night, but lets himself be pulled by Niki into his bedroom.
“Oh,” Rinne breathes, eyes widening in surprise. “I guess he just needed a toy to sleep.” He comments dumbly, and maybe miracles do happen and perhaps lady luck decided to make her appearance tonight, because laying in bed quietly right before him is a sleeping Amagi Hiiro, missing the usual, tense look that he sprouts.
He’s been comfortably tucked into his bed by Niki, and the sheets, for once, are not scrunched up by stress-consumed fists. He looks more like the little boy he should’ve been at the village - unburdened and unfearful of the world around him; protected and loved by the adults in his life.
“A toy that resembles you!” Niki adds happily, pointing at fox-Rinne safely cradled in Hiiro’s arms as the younger boy snoozes away blissfully.
“Thank god,” Rinne’s voice cracks on the last word, and he quickly clears his throat before any more of his emotions leak through. “I was starting to worry that he would end up short with his lack of sleep.”
“He looks so cute like this!” Niki comments fondly, sitting on the edge of the bed and poking at Hiiro’s chubby cheeks. The younger boy, dead to the world, simply rolls away from Niki, hands clutching tighter onto the plushie.
Rinne wants to sob in relief as his shoulders sag. He wants to curl into a ball and shove his face into his hands and scream in joy, because for Hiiro to be able to remain asleep even with Niki physically touching his face…His younger brother must finally feel safe in their apartment.
They’re finally free from the village. Both of them.
Niki must’ve picked up something in Rinne’s expression, and his face manages to soften more than it already has while watching Hiiro. He stands up from the bed, and the next thing Rinne knows, he’s being dragged by the arm (again) out of their room and shoved into a chair at the dining table.
“I tried out a new recipe while you were at work just now, Rinne-kun! Try it and let me know how it tastes!”
A bowl of sweet-smelling food is shoved under Rinne’s nose. Rinne’s original plan was to take a quick shower and ensure that Hiiro can fall asleep with no worries, but now that that’s no longer an issue….
“You spoil me too much, Niki-kyun! Hand it over!”
-
“Are you happy here, Hiiro?” Rinne asks curiously the next morning, the question escaping his thoughts as he brushes Hiiro’s hair, getting him dressed for their next outing to the playground.
He’s not sure if he wants to know the answer or not - he’s probably scared to hear the truth, but he knows for certain that he’ll never forgive himself if he went ahead and assumed his brother’s happiness.
“Yes! I’m very happy here, Nii-san!” Hiiro beams, the brightest that Rinne’s ever seen since they left the village.
Rinne smiles softly. “I’m glad.”
His plan turned out to be a success after all.