Brothers of Thunder

Tendrils of One's Past

"Aniki, wait up!" Zenitsu called as he stumbled after his brother.

Kaigaku glanced back at him with an exasperated yet fond smile.

It had been a few weeks since the lightning incident and Zenitsu was at the tail end of his recovery.

"Things are going smoothly enough," he supposed. He had told his brother that he was fine with going to town by himself, but Jigoro insisted that it would be good exercise for Zenitsu. He did need a head start before returning to training.

"I told you to stay close. Didn't I?" He slowed his pace to a stop. "It's not my fault if you can't keep up. We're not even in the town yet."

"Anikiiiiii..." the blond drawled. His hands grasped the back of the older boy's kimono tightly.

Kaigaku patted his brothers head with a chuckle.

"I do mean it though. I need you to stay close when we get to the town. I have to focus on getting the groceries but, I don't wan't to risk you getting lost alright?" he explained before continuing down the road.

"Don't need to tell me twice." Zenitsu whispered beneath his breath.

"I just did, Zen."

***

Kaigaku rested a hand on his brother's head.
"Last place before we head home alright? This will be a bit Zen. This guy's products are overpriced so I gotta haggle. Remember what I told you."

Zenitsu stood to the side as he watched in curiosity. He listened carefully as the seller and his brother seemed to be yelling numbers at each other. His thick brows furrowed in an expression of confusion. He didn't get it.

He jolted as he felt a hand firmly grip his wrist. He was yanked into the alley next to the shop and out of sight.

He struggled to pry the hand off.

"You look... different." He froze. "Is it really you I wonder?"

Zenitsu stared at the ground with his eyes wide in terror. This sound... it rang unbearably loud like warning bells in his head. It was twisted and shrieked like old metal on rock.

Before he could react another hand not so gently rolled up his sleeve.

"Oh my! So it is you!" The sickeningly sweet and familiar voice of the girl spoke again.

Zenitsu's heart pounded frantically. He had to get away.

"Let go. Please." He whispered shakily. He pulled his sleeve down.

He winced as he heard her sound screech again. Her grip tightened painfully.

"Who said you could talk back to me?!" She growled.

"Please. Let me go." He repeated louder. The fear coiled around his heart and was slowly increasing in pressure.

She scoffed. "Ugh! You've never managed to do anything right! The most you could do was scrub the floor! You were lucky that I let you be my slave! Any other girl wouldn't spare a glance at such a worthless creature."

"Let go!" Zenitsu cried out as he struggled in her grip. Tears flooded his eyes as his wrist began to bruise.

"You're so desperate for me to teach you this lesson again? Or maybe your tiny idiot brain couldn't hold so much information. Hmph! Fine." She raised her hand to strike.

A shadow fell over her.

"Step away from him." Kaigaku ordered with with a dark tone.

"Just who-" she began.

"NOW!"

She dropped Zenitsu's arm and shrunk back.

Kaigaku glared down at her murderously. "If only you were not human, I would not hesitate kill you right now."

"Kai-"

"So I'm giving you a chance." He cut Zenitsu's objection off. "If you stay the hell away from me and my brother, then I will refrain from relieving you of your filthy hands. Got it?"

The terrified girl nodded shakily and tore out of the alley like Muzan himself was chasing after her.

With an angry growl in that direction he then turned to his teary-eyed brother. He squatted down and gingerly examined the boy's wrist.

Zenitsu sniffled as he watched in subtle fascination. His brother was so furious and scary just a moment ago and now he's as gentle as a mother fox with her pup.

"We're going home alright?" Kaigaku sighed as he stood. He slid the pack with the goods onto his back and gently held Zenitsu's uninjured hand in his own.

The blond boy nodded and walked with him to the road home.

***

"I told you to stay close."

"And I did!" Zenitsu exclaimed clearly distressed.

Kaigaku decided to leave it at that and instead focused on something else.

"That girl... You knew her?" he asked slowly. He glanced at the boy beside him to see him shamefully staring at the ground.

A growl rose in his throat. He really wanted to commit murder right now. He shook his head.

"What did she do?" he asks half expecting silence as an answer again.

Zenitsu's soft voice stammered. "I'll- I'll try to tell you when we get home. Is that okay?"

His golden eyes looked up at Kaigaku for approval.

Kaigaku's expression softened. He let go of his hand in favor of patting his brother on the head.

"Yeah. It's okay. Of course it's okay."

Sorry for the lack of music. I didn't know what song to put over this chapter. If you guys have any music suggestions for this chapter, please comment. Or let me know if you don't mind not having the music. I'm honestly getting tired of having to pick one per chapter. Thanks for reading. I'll try to update soon.~HoC