After day seven of the reports, Shinichiro decides it'd be best to just talk to you. He'll be the first  to admit that watching your daily activities was weird of him. It was, admittedly, stalking.

Maybe for a good reason, but still stalking. Which, by the way, totally not gentlemanly. 

He planned to be upfront, confront you and all the likes. He would even apologize!

You, on the other hand, had noticed the same kids hanging around your apartment and been so close to calling the police on them. But, well, then they'd probably notice your mother, and then Tetta would be taken from you, but he was all you had to protect-

You calmed your breathing. Why would anybody have problems with you? While you had no friends in school, you weren't disliked due to your rather reasonably respectful personality. You partook in class discussions, you didn't insult others or gossip, you had good hygiene (other than being dead tired all the time), and you were distant to the others because of your job. And money problems, at least, other students could understand. It wasn't like you lived in a good neighborhood specifically; while not a bad neighborhood, in general the people living here were more low-income rather than middle-class. You kept to yourself in class, and people respected that. 

So no school problems.

Your mind almost immediately jumped to Kisaki, before remembering that he hadn't even met Takemichi yet. Nobody would aim for a child, nor their older sister. (Except for the fact that canon Kisaki did. But you'd protect him from that future.)

So why were these people following you? Again, no answer. Wasn't that what you'd just explained?

You'd have assumed they weren't following, if not for Mrs. Suki (the owner of Suki's Sweets) asking you if those two boys were your friends. 

Hint: they weren't. You just said they were some classmates since one of the dudes is from your class. 

You didn't get why they seemed to be following you. 

Whatever - it was getting too cold, and you'd had Tetta wear long sleeves and his jacket, but he needed something warmer. While you could worry about the potential stalkers, you worried more for your little brother. 

(He's still so small, so tiny. Your arms are still bruised, aching.)

It's getting worse at home; your mother finally begins hating you for how much you love your brother. While she'd always been cruel in her insults, they become more of her asking you why? 

Or, rather, asking you how you could love him.

She saw him as a monster; a reminder of a relationship falling apart in front of her eyes without being able to do anything to stop it. She saw those eyes as a mark of bad will. She could not consider Kisaki Tetta her family when he was not even related to her.

You two really were opposites.

You just.. saw him as a child. Maybe before, he'd been the horrid villain, but now he was simply a kid. Those eyes were the same as yours. And despite not being from this world, despite having hated the old him, he was still your brother. And you were still his sister.

So you'd buy him the winter coats, pack him his lunch, patch up his scraped knees. 

Because he was just a kid. He was just a kid, and you'd done this before. He was just a kid, and when you had been a kid, you'd learned how to hold your little brother's hand while crossing the street, learned how to pack lunches in the morning for your siblings, learned how to be the older sister even as the middle child. That was your childhood. 

"Okay, Kisaki, let's go buy a coat together, shall we?" you made sure to hold onto his hand as to not let him get lost in the crowd. You really did have to get him a coat this time. He was shivering even now, with the sun shining upon the crowd.

"Nee-chan, can I get a shark coat?" he asked, looking around curiously at all the colorful things in the shops. More proof that he is but a child.

(Villains aren't born, you remind yourself.)

"If there are any, sure," you find yourself agreeing. He loved sharks, for some reason. Your brain connected the sharks to Hanma, for some reason. Which, in all honesty, made no sense. Sharks were, after all, much kinder creatures than Hanma.

(Or maybe, once more, you're forgetting that villains are created.)

You found yourself searching through the coats for something suitable and not too expensive. distracted by searching for the correct sizes, you didn't notice Tetta slipping away until it was a bit too late. 

Having found a nice coat, you turned to compare its size with your younger brother- but he wasn't there.

Then came the panic. You knew Tetta's a smart kid, one with good common sense, but he could be lost! It's been too long since you'd actually dealt with a full-tantrum-throwing kid, but that wasn't the biggest of your worries. Maybe you were too much of an overprotective sister, but it had to be rightfully.

"Tetta..?" you called out tentatively, just to see if he'd just wandered around the aisles to search for his own jackets. And yet, he was not anywhere near.

The store itself was rather large.

"Where did you go..?" you were feeling rather anxious by now, and found yourself wandering away with the coat still in your hands. 

"Y/n?" a familiar voice called- but not the one you were searching for. Turning to the voice, you saw Shinichiro standing there. Once more, the two of you met in a clothing store where you were searching for jackets.

"..I'd love to talk, but I really am busy-" you frowned. You were betting that, if anything, no plot would change from a few exchanges, because logically, such small changes (like Shinichiro talking to one random girl) wouldn't change the fact that the Black Dragon would be disbanded after Shinichiro decided to work at an actual job. 

"Wait, I wanted to talk to you!" he looked.. worried. But you couldn't focus on that- you needed to find Tetta.

"I need to find my little brother," you say quickly, rather rudely walking away from him. Where would Tetta go? You've already separated the sight of Tetta and 'Kisaki' from the story, and now you're just anxious.

Shinichiro caught up to you easily, "I can help you look for him- I lose my younger siblings all the time."

You frowned. Two people are better than one, but you really don't want to get involved with somebody bound to die. This could also count as you later owing him a favor, which wasn't, well, favorable for you.

Shinichiro, on the other hand, sighed internally. You seemed to frown a lot around him, and he'd never personally seen you smile. Maybe it was weird, but he wondered what made you constantly seem as though you had a heavy burden on your back.

You were still contemplating whether or not to accept his offer of help. Well, it was more important to find Tetta right now, and if he asked for a date in return, you'd just reject him. 

"Okay, you can help. He's got the same blue eyes as me, pretty tan skin, his name's Kisaki Tetta," you describe him, "He's wearing a red shirt, and he's got a yellow backpack on, 'cause he takes it everywhere. He's a smart kid, but if you tell him that you're my acquaintance he'll accept that. Don't use the 'friend' motive, 'cause he knows I don't have many friends."

He stared at you for a moment, "Alright, got it! I'll check this half of the store, you check the other."

"If you find him, meet back here," you agree.

hey there besties im alive, barely <3