as we walk ; geto suguru

Youth (Part Two)

There's a good reason as to why Geto Suguru chooses not to be friendly with his step-siblings.

He insists that it's for their own safety as well as his. While they're oblivious as to what holds for them and their mother in the nearby months, he already knows what events will gradually unfold like a blooming lotus flower, the effects of his father's murky and muddy behavior finally unveiling itself. He's too used to this practice at this point but he doesn't bother to try and stop it, knowing it will leave him running a track lane that never has an exact finish line.

Besides a name, an age, and maybe occasionally an occupation, Geto refuses any offers like to catch that new movie everyone has been buzzing about or to dine in at a fast food restaurant that his step-siblings offer him. While he's polite while doing it, they usually get a grasp of his reasons behind his stances after a third try of trying to get to know him. Sometimes, they'll hold a grudge against him - thinking he's rude for not wanting to spend some time with his family but he knows that persisting that grudge isn't going to get them anywhere with their relations with him.

As the only child of his father and his first wife, it's up to him and him only to help ground himself. His father, while he does try his best to parent his son as best he can, is too caught up in falling in love with the woman that catches his eye and would much rather spend time picking out an engagement ring for her than spend time with his firstborn son.

Not that Geto minds. It gives him freedom to do whatever he wants.

It's one of his traits that holds the most pride. It's unyielding, he figures, and it'll last him all the way until his youth ends so he can escape this grave pattern that his father pulls him into without glancing back at him to see if his son has been keeping up with him and his tomfoolery with love and women. He's been doing an undeviating job of smoothing over and replicating the process of greeting his step-siblings - shaking hands, then ignoring them. The pattern has been smooth-sailing so far - he waters beneath the boat he rides on gentle and calm.

Until the two tsunami waves come crashing down on his little boat and fuck everything up for him.

Azegami Juuzou and Azegami Osamu. Two brothers of his father's fifth wife, two years apart from each other. Azegami Juuzou, also known as AJ to everyone, is the same age as Geto; he's around four months older than him but easily treats him just like any older siblings treats a younger sibling - greeting him with an arm clutched around the neck and a vigorous head rub using the flat of his knuckles and often lecturing him with his supposed "wisdom of age." Azegami Osamu, also known as Blu by everyone because of the English translation of the word his initials spell. He insists on never adding the E in his nickname for a reason he says "English is a weird language that uses letters that people don't even need to pronounce!"

Blu is an extroverted, shorter version of his older brother. Geto would think the dial of the cloning system used to replicate the brothers was toned down a notch to create AJ, but other than that, the two are almost exactly alike. Mannerisms, way of speech, fashion sense, almost everything about them is identical. The deciding factor was their eyes: AJ had pale, glassy green hues while Blue had clear, dark azure eyes, hence his forwarding with his nickname. It doesn't help to Geto's distaste that they get along better than any sibling pair he's encountered either, it makes the hidden envy in his stomach churn. They're so close to each other, Blu calls the elder boy "nii-chan" instead of "nii-san" like he does.

The first time Geto had met them was when they were late to the first family dinner that he, his father, and his fifth step-mom were about to have the day they moved into his step-mother's house. The entire day, his step-mom said they were out at a friend's house and they would be back in the afternoon. They ended up being five hours late and showing up all tainted with specks of dirt on their skin that was revealed from the clothing that was stained with various traces of the outdoors. Geto remembers gaping up at the soiled siblings, who were scratching their necks with guilty smiles as their mother scolded them for showing up to a dinner in such a presence.