Splash of Color

15: Progression

Currently, you were at a café with your brother Jun. After your talk with Oikawa last night, you decided to take a step forward and at least make attempts to bridge the gap you created with your brother during the past couple years. You felt anxious but still motivated to finally face your problems head on. Sitting in your seat, you drum your fingers against the table as you waited for Jun to return from the washroom. You glance over at your empty plate that once held a delicious pastry, grimacing over the fact that one was definitely not enough.

A couple minutes later, Jun returns and takes a seat across from you, putting down another plate of dessert and sliding it towards you. "You seemed to have a hard time deciding which one to get so I got this one too." He gives you a warm smile. "I'm pretty sure you need more than one plate of dessert to be satisfied."

You blink at the new dessert placed in front of you and feel your nerves relax before shooting Jun an embarrassed smile. "Yeah, that part hasn't changed at all."

Jun takes a small sip of his coffee before he sets it down. "...That's good." He gives you a soft smile before he places his elbows on the table, his hands clasping together so his chin could rest on it. "So what has changed?"

You think about his question for a moment. Was he asking about what had happened between you two or was he simply asking how you have been during all these years? For now you settled for the second option since you still weren't comfortable enough to share as you did with Oikawa. All that time apart created an invisible awkwardness between you two so you decided to break the ice with something more light hearted.

"I definitely grew." You shoot him a serious look as his eyes squint at your form.

"You sure?" His head tilts from side to side, trying to evaluate and see if you did in fact get any taller.

You nod firmly. "Positive." You grin as you see Jun's face crack a smile and let a chuckle escape his lips. "So how have things been for you?"

Jun's face becomes more subdued as he looks at you with an expression you couldn't decipher. "Ah, nothing much to report about that actually." He shrugs dismissively. "Same stuff that you heard about during dinner last night."

The silence returns as you scramble to think of something to say. While you did so, you remembered the tickets you had stuffed inside your pocket before you left the house.

"Actually..." You fish inside your pocket and pull out a ticket for Jun nervously. "I entered in an exhibit here and it'll be this coming week." You glance away from him as soon as you placed the ticket on the table. "So if you wanted to come..."

You don't hear Jun respond and you turn back to look at his expression warily. Your nerves are blown away when he presents you with an approving smile. "Heh, it seems like you certainly did some growing." He picks up the ticket on the table gingerly. "I'll definitely come."

You beamed at his response, the rest of the uneasy feeling in your stomach fading away. "Thanks Jun."

Jun smiles gently at you before waving his ticket by his face. "No, thank you for letting me come to your first exhibition."

You smile at him with a grateful expression before you look down, your fingers starting to play with each other. "Actually, I wanted to invite the parents too but..." You trailed off.

Jun lets out a hum in thought. "We can talk to them about it when we get home." Jun gives you a wink.

You're stunned at what you hear. We. You and Jun.

For the longest time, you've been trudging on this path you've created on your own. To have Jun say something as little as that brought hope in your heart. He accepted what you loved. He accepted you.