Sunshine Traitor (ENG)

Chapter 16: Denki Kaminari

Sorry this chapter was uploaded later than I originally planned and promised. But the good news is that there are no warnings for this part and there is something in it for everyone: fluff, angst, family bonding....

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"Yay! I win again!" Eri excitedly jumps up and down in her seat with her controller in her hand, while Denki looks at the TV screen defeated; Mario, his character, has gotten stuck on the racetrack, having lost again during the race. By now he has lost count of the number of races they have played, and those he has lost, but he doesn't care much. He cannot wipe the smile off his face when he hears Eri laughing with happiness again and again.

"You don't have to let her win all the time; you know." Shinso, reading a book next to him on the sofa, breaks through his thoughts. "She also needs to learn what it's like to lose once."

"Nii-chan! Mean!" Pouts Eri and Denki laughs again. It is so beautiful how they care so much about each other as siblings in their own way, without having an actual blood bond.

"I am letting her win."

"Denki, you haven't won once in all these times." Says Shinso smugly.

"Hey, go easy on me, this is the first time I am playing Mario Cart." He defends himself.

"You've never played Mario Cart before?" Shinso's voice sounds incredulous and Denki grins sheepishly.

"We didn't have Nintendo or anything and my parents didn't allow it either." He shrugs as if it doesn't matter much, to reassure Shinso.

"So, were you also saved by dad and pops from bad people like Nii-chan and me?" The change of subject comes so suddenly that it takes Denki a moment to process it and he almost misses the fact that Shinso also had a bad home situation. He knew largely what Eri had gone through, but it had never occurred to him that Shinso might have gone through something like that too.

"Eri-chan! You can't just ask people that!" Shinso scolded his sister and he then turned to Denki "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, that was rude of her." He gives his sister another warning look.

"No, no, it's fine." soothes Denki quickly, before Eri-chan feels guilty again. He had already helped her this morning when she had triggered Shinso's panic attack, and he would rather see her smiling than on the verge of crying. "You could indeed say I was rescued from a bad place, but it was your Nii-chan who brought me here."

"Wow, Nii-chan, you are already a real hero." Eri's eyes glisten admiringly, and it is clear to Denki that these words mean a lot to Shinso. He wonders again what happened to Shinso before he ended up with Aizawa-Sensei and Yamada-Sensei. He pushes that question away, it is none of his business and he does not want to ruin the good atmosphere now. "So will you come and live with us now?" Eri's question sounds innocent, but Denki doesn't know how to answer it. Shinso did bring him here, but that was an emergency, and he cannot live here forever.

'Maybe I can move back into the dorm at UA when the school year starts back in a few days? Or maybe I should get a job and then I can rent my own little apartment? But would anyone hire me after everything that happened? Is it even possible for a 16-year-old to rent an apartment on his own?'

"For now, yes." Shinso's clear voice takes him out of his stream of thoughts. He feels guilty about it, but he is relieved that he can stay here for a while. He likes it here, he feels at home here and even though there are two other children here who each get their attention, his teachers seem more concerned about him than his own parents. It's a sad thought and he tries to put it back away as quickly as possible. He just wants to suggest playing another game of Mario Cart, but Eri is ahead of him.