Elysian's Monogatari

Chapter 109: A Brother's Burden

A few days have passed since Shiro and Ito decided to leave Ren alone with his problems. However it doesn't seem to be helping. Although while working Ren sounds like he's really fine but during lesson times he'll always space out. Only when Shiro paused the music then he came back to his senses.

After today's lesson ended the three was about to pack up and go back to ES when Ren asked. "Nii-san is it okay if I stayed for a while longer? I promise I'll do the closing of everything in this room." "...." Shiro said nothing but he wanted to decline. But that's when Ren said. "...Please?" with puppy eyes.

"....Fine. But don't stay for too long. I don't want Kagehira or Ritsu to call me just because you did not return back safely. That'll be a problem for me." Shiro said with a sigh. "Yay! Thank you Nii-san! You're the best! I promise I won't worry you!" Ren said.

"...U-Um...Well then....G-Good work today...Ren-kun..." Ito said. "Hai! Good work today! Get some rest after this okay?" Ren said. "....That's our line no?" Shiro asked. "Haha that's true. Don't worry I won't push myself! I'm not Nii-san after all!" Ren said resulting in Shiro saying "Oi."

Shiro and Ito then left the room to let Ren trained a while more. Once the two is quite far from the room Shiro said with a sigh. "...This is not working at all."

"....Ren-kun...it seems like...he's still...worrying about it...." Ito said with a concerned face. "...Ne Ito." "...Eh?! H-Hai!" "....Last time I went to your room to talk about Ren you sounded like you knew something." Shiro said remembering that day.

"Eh?! ...U-Umm...." Ito is then seen getting nervous. Like really nervous. "...Please Ito. If you know anything I want you to tell me." Shiro said. "..." Ito didn't say anything. He looked hesitant. Not sure whether to still keep it a secret or tell his King.

Then a while later Ito spoke up. "....King despite how you don't trust others easily you're really dense when it comes to your brother aren't you?" He said with a sigh. "...Shadow." Shiro said. "...Yep it's me. In case you're wondering Ito doesn't know what to do in this situation. So I decided to say it in his place instead." Shadow said.

"....Looks like he's anxious as always. Not like I can blame him cause that's how he is." Shiro said. "...Yep. But back to what I was saying King you're too dense when it comes to Ren-kun. I know you're just worried and being protective and all but you need to understand. He has to grow up by himself. He can't be living under your protection forever." Shadow said with a sigh.

"...I don't think that way at all though?" Shiro said. "For you sure. But don't forget. Ren-kun is not you. He's his own person. Besides King you're always caring for him and won't even deny his requests. You spoil him too much." Shadow said with a sigh. "....." "...Why is it you're so protective of him? It's not because he's just your precious little brother is it?" Shadow then asked. "...."

𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌

"...𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒊𝒕...𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌...! 𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌!!"

𝑬𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌

"....." "...Well I can guess it's because of your past. I know Ren-kun got taken hostage before and had a scar as a result but I don't know the full details of what happened. So I can't say for sure I know how you feel. Even so I believe Ren-kun needs to be independent eventually. He needs to have his own dignity." Shadow said.

"...Living under my protection huh? It's true that I've been trying to care for Ren too much as his older brother. After what happened back then I felt like it was my responsibility to keep him safe and help him. But if so that means the thing he's troubled with..." "...is the fact he lived as Hanagaki Shiro's younger brother and not Hanagaki Ren." Shadow said for Shiro.

"...Haaaa so that's it. That's why he's so spaced out recently." Shiro said with a sigh. "Yep. And with that King I have a suggestion that might be of use to you!" Shadow said. "...What's with the sudden impersonation of Ren?" Shiro asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"Haha I thought I should bring up the mood! King you're always too serious after all so I thought you'll feel better if I speak like Ren-kun!" Shadow said. "...That did not help in any way possible." Shiro said bluntly. "Eeeeeeeh so mean~!" Shadow said.

"....Forget about that. What suggestion do you have?" Shiro asked. "Ah about that...." Shadow said as he told Shiro his suggestion. Shiro looked surprised for a while but eventually he chuckled. "...So that's what you're planning huh? Intriguing. Let's do that." Shiro then said. "Yosh it's decided! Well then let's get prepared immediately." Shadow said as Shiro nodded before the two head back to ES.

[Umm...Yeah I used ChatGPT for the title name again 😂]