Brothers

Chapter 9 - Questions

"What the hell? Why do you want my bed?"

"Chill out! I was just talking about sleeping in your dorm."

"What? No way. There is no way i am letting you sleep in my room."

"Please Rin-kun."

"No"

"Please~"

"NO!"

"Okay okay fine."

'It is always fun to rile him up.'

Kiyama looked at Rin who was wearing an annoyed expression on his face. His gaze turned soft remembering the old times. He remembered that dull boy with empty eyes. The innocence that radiated from him. He remembered the innocent face laid with sorrow and confusion. He remebered the face full of fear whenever there was even a single mention of snow. He remembered the reluctant boy who struggled to open up.

He remembered the strong boy who fought against his fear everyday. Apparently exposure therapy was necessary for Rin.

Then he remebered the boy who told him about his older brother. He remebered how carefully he opened his mouth to speak as if about to tell something that would shatter the whole world. Maybe it was Rin's whole world that was about to be shattered.

He remembered how happy Rin was when he told him about his childhood with his brother. He remembered how that happiness completely vanished when he told him about their teenage years.

After spending all that time with Rin he was now aware of many things regarding him. Especially his personal life. Rin's whole life revolved around his older brother. That's why he was so easy to break when that older brother abandoned him. In technical sense it was Rin's fault for getting too attached to his older brother.

Kiyama had tried to view this case from multiple directions and from the information he collected he had come to a few conclusions.

Itoshi Sae. Rin's older brother.

Kiyama believed that Sae wasn't completely at fault in this situation. Sae did something horrible to Rin. But from Sae's perspective what he did was bad but not horrible.

Kiyama thinks that Sae's world views are distorted. He thinks that the one that is in need of urgent therapy is Sae rather than Rin. With a mentality like Sae's he could not only hurt others around him but himself too. No. It was more likely that this was exactly what was happening in the recent years. Sae was hurting Rin and himself because of his stubborn belief.

The reason for Sae's behaviour could be his stay in Spain. Being away from his family and friends in a new country full of strangers. Sae expected those strangers to praise him, acknowledge him so that he could become the best. He expected something which he had always received in Japan but unfortunately Spain didn't treat him the same as Japan. His childish pride was hurt upon being looked down and crushed by strangers stronger then him.

This was the most probable, the most possible answer there could be for Sae's behaviour yet...

Yet Kiyama felt that something wasn't right in all of this. He felt that whatever happened in Spain was just a few drops of fuel given to the already burning fire.

Something wasn't making sense.

Why would Rin become so dependent on his brother when he had a perfect family?
Usually you would become dependent on only one person when they are your only source of receiving love.

Why would a child whose age was only eight years be going around with an expressionless face? Why was Itoshi Sae's idea of love so twisted?

There was a piece missing in his puzzle. A piece he needs to find out at all costs.

***

???'s Pov

On one fateful day I found a fourteen years old boy unconscious in the soccer field filled with snow. The boy's whole body was covered in snow. His body was as cold as a corpse. But even then he wasn't trembling.

Which was of course a bad sign. It meant that his body and mind had become numb to the point that his brain couldn't send emergency signals to the nerves and body.

It meant that his hypothermia had already reached a serious stage and if he doesn't receive immediate help,
he will die.

Any another person would have panicked in this kind of situation and would not have been able to make immediate decision leading to the boy's death.

But this boy was fortunate enough to be found by me. Being a doctor sure had its perks.

I brought the boy to the hospital where I worked. I met with his parents who had arrived after being called by someone who knew the boy. The boy was placed under my care. The head doctor said it was because I brought him. But I knew the real reason. It was obviously because
I am amazing.

Rin.

The boy's name was Rin. The boy's- No. Rin's parents called him by that name.

Rin's parents were weird.

They provided Rin with everything that could be bought with money. But they didn't visit him even once.

'How sad'

It was sad that a child who was on the verge of death was left alone and had no one to visit or care for him.

Even I felt bad for him.

So I stayed with him as long as I could. I would have stayed longer but that was not possible since my other patients needed me too.

Rin was unconscious for some time. But when he woke up I started conversing with him.

From the conversations I came to understand one thing-

Rin was a quiet boy. Unusually quiet.
He had dull teal eyes that seemed to hold no light in it. It was quiet eerie.

After spending some time with him I understood that it was the result of some kind of trauma. Snow could be a possible reason but there was definitely more to it.

I tried to converse with him whenever I could. At first he only spoke one or two words. But after a few weeks he started speaking full sentences.

A few days later it was time for Rin's discharge. Both of his parents came to pick him up. Both of them were polite and affectionate. Their eyes were filled with love when they looked at Rin but there was something wrong about it. I couldn't pinpoint what it was.

I could tell that even though they neglected Rin they still loved him. It was a really weird form of love. It made me uncomfortable. But Rin  didn't seem to have a reaction. He accepted it like it was normal and that creeped me out.

This whole situation was really fucking weird.