Brothers of Thunder

Storm of Doubt

"Zenitsu! Get down from there!" Kaigaku yelled up at his brother. "How did you even get up there?!"

"I don't even know!" Zenitsu squeaked from his perch in the tree. "But Gramps said we were going to practice the other forms today! You know how awful I am at the other five! It hurts really bad when I mess up!"

"So you got scared and climbed this tree?" Kaigaku sighed.

His little brother nodded and rested his forehead against the rough bark.

It had been about a year since Jigiro found Zenitsu. The two boys, who had been ages fourteen and twelve, were now fifteen and thirteen.

Kaigaku could clearly see some changes in his younger brother. Zenitsu was able to talk fairly confidently to him and their master, though he still had the bad habit of not making eye contact, and accepted their gestures of affection without flinching.

Somethings still lingered however. He hasn't yet lost his awed eyes when he feels how soft his bed is or the endless sea of tears when he thinks he's done something wrong.

On a slightly different note, it seemed to Kaigaku that Zenitsu still wasn't comfortable enough to share anything about his life before they met.

His little brother had quite a ways to go, but... it's a start.

"We need to practice them sometime. If we don't, you'll never learn them. I promise I'll try to help you. You know the first form! That's the base for the other five! All you have to do is apply some extra stuff. I still need to learn the first form... I don't know if we will be able to become official slayers if we don't master everything... Maybe we could help each other out?"

"But Aniki... why do we even need to become demon slayers? It's such a dangerous life..." Zenitsu asked softly. "Have you ever wondered about living a peaceful life? It's safe here... Also... Do you really think I could ever amount to anything?"

"Gramps seems to think so," he continues with a tightness in his voice before Kaigaku can think of an answer. "I don't know what he sees in me... I'm weak and I have these dumb issues that I don't even know if they can be fixed..."

The anguish in his little brothers voice caused something inside Kaigaku to twist painfully.

"Z-zen? I really think you should come down now," he coaxed shakily. "Come on. I'll tell Grandpa that you're not up for training today."

"What if I'm not strong enough on a mission?! What if you tried to protect me and then got killed?!" Zenitsu sobbed with his vocal volume rising.

A foreboding feeling tugged in his gut just before he saw the clouds roll in.

"Somethings wrong! Danger! DANGER!" his body seemed to scream at him in warning. His gut feelings were never wrong. They had kept him alive back when he was by himself.

"Zen! Listen to me, please! Get down from there, now!"

"It would be all my fault because I was just too weak! I would never forgive myself! Grandpa was wrong about me! I'M WORTHLESS!"

White light flashed before Kaigaku's eyes. He fell back and an explosion of sound crashed over him like a tsunami.

All he could hear was ringing.

He could see nothing but shapes fading in and out of focus.

Despite the dizziness that made his body feel like lead, he pushed himself up.

He stumbled over to the yellow and orange amidst the green.

Vision slowly sharpening, he dropped to his knees beside his brother.

He scooped the smaller boy into his arms.

"Zenitsu!" His own voice sounded like it was talking through water.

Dazed golden eyes blinked up at him.

"Keep your eyes on me, Zen."

"Aniki..." Zenitsu whispered before his consciousness abandoned him.

Kaigaku cradled his little brother to his chest. He felt pressure build in his chest and throat.

"Someone's screaming..."

"I'm sorry Zenitsu! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm so sorry..."

He felt something wet on his cheek. He couldn't remember the last time he let himself cry.

"No. There's no time for that. He's still alive. I need to get him back to the estate!"

After reigning in his breathing, he situated Zenitsu on his back and sprinted towards the mansion.

He channeled his energy into his legs. He needed to get there, fast.

He didn't notice the sparks of electricity he left in his wake as he ran with full focus.

Within seconds he was at the door of the building. He stumbled through.

"Help!" the distressed teen called out. "Master, where are you?!"

As gently as he could, he set the younger boy on the floor.

"Master! GRANDPA!"

"Kaigaku!" Jigoro hobbled in as quickly as he could with his katana at his hip. "Kaigaku, what-"

Kaigaku had never seen his master scared in his life. It caused frightened tears to spill from his eyes.

"He got hit by lightning, Pa," he explained in a choked voice. "He survived , but I don't know for how long..."

"Take him to his bed. Quickly! I will be with you in a minute. I need to write a letter."

***

Lady Kocho,

This is a matter of urgency. One of my students has been hit by lightning. We require your skill in medicine. Please come to the thunder estate at the earliest time possible.

  Former Thunder Hashira,
                                               Jigoro Kuwajima