Our Kindling Flames [Beyblade Burst One-Shots]

Last Straw

Description: The brothers fought. One stormed away, only to realize what his brother had done for him. They reconciled.

We've seen it happen. But we never knew what had been going through that other brother's mind throughout that scene, an unjustified depiction of their reality.

We never knew, until now.

~*~*~*~

As the older sibling, Hikaru was used to keeping his emotions and insecurities hidden from his family. As the proclaimed ace of their team, the Comets, he learned to shelf away his own needs and problems in favor of the others.

When he had failed to take Honcho to the Legend Festival's finals, it took him a while before he could look at the teen in the eyes without crying out of guilt. When he sat there pouring out his frustrations days later, having been dropped out of the tournament, he felt weak. Weak for failing, weak for letting Hyuga see him like that.

Hikaru vowed to himself that Hyuga won't see him in that state again. He was supposed to be the older brother! The one who should be able to protect him, the one who would always be there to support him. How would he be able to do that if he couldn't even support himself?

He shoved his negative feelings aside. Hyuga was a bit of an empath himself, and making him worried before his big match with Valt was the last thing Hikaru wanted. Having had tons of experience with expressing a confident façade, it was already becoming his default state of mind.

It was how he convinced Aiger he was fine.

But then the maroon-haired boy brought him and Hyuga to his home in the woods.

As Aiger led him to his "favorite spot" on a treetop, the setting sun's rays warming their bodies, Hikaru was tempted to just tell Aiger openly about his emotions. Just as a "thank you."

Aiger was a big brother himself. He'd understand, right?

~*~*~*~

Hikaru looked back at the thirteen-year old, who was still admiring the view, oblivious to the emotional crisis he was experiencing. With how his stomach was going topsy-turvy right now, he's surprised he hadn't thrown up yet.

No turning back. It's now or never. The blue-haired boy opened his mouth.

Then a groan came from below, belonging to his one and only brother who had been lagging behind since the tour. If he said anything now, it would be in Hyuga's earshot.

Hikaru paused. Looking back at the sky, he shut his lips tight before forcing them upwards.

Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

"You didn't come for the spaghetti, but because you wanted to check on me, right?"

Aiger let out a surprised noise and turned away, not expecting to be caught.

"You're really amazing, Aiger!"

And just like that, Hikaru had fooled yet another person of his true feelings.

~*~*~*~

Heroes weren't born without a little sacrifice of their own.

Hikaru was still a kid though, no matter how much he would deny that. At the end of the day he would plop himself on his bed, occupied with nothing but the thoughts in his head until he eventually fell asleep.

He busied himself with training and helping Hyuga with his match. The pressure was heavier on Hyuga than it did to Hikaru last time, now that he made it to the semi-finals. If he was just as affected by his loss, he could only imagine how Hyuga would take it if he failed.