The Diamond Brothers

A dream

One night Daiya was staying out longer than usually, longer than ever before. Mondo hoped he was just doing some extra hours. But Mondo had begun to wonder what kind of workplace his big brother really had. He was lost in thought, petting Chuck who was sitting next to him on the couch. It was raining outside.

"Kinda like when we met, remember?" Mondo looked at Chuck. "When you were waiting for me on the stairs." Mondo felt very proud of the dog he had adopted with Daiya. He was proud to have such a smart dog that fetched in the newspaper every morning. And one of the things he enjoyed the most was to be a big brother to someone.

Mondo heard the key turn in the lock. Daiya walked inside, swaying a bit. He didn't call out for his brother like he usually did, instead he started taking off his shoes, trying to keep balance. Mondo walked over to him. Daiya's face was a mess, he'd clearly been in a fight with someone. Cuts and bruises covered his face, and he reeked of alcohol.

Not sure what to do Mondo headed for the kitchen and filled a glass with water, heading back to Daiya who had gone to the living room and was sitting next to Chuck, petting him. Mondo handed over the glass to him. "Thanks kiddo," the older brother murmured as he took the glass with a shaky hand and poured almost half of it on his lap instead of his mouth. He wiped his mouth and handed the glass back to his little brother.

"I wanna know," Mondo said firmly, watching his brother who was struggling to keep his eyes open. "Know what?" Daiya asked. "What happened," Mondo cleared. Daiya's eyes were beginning to fill with tears. "It's nothing," he blurted, trying to sound as if everything was alright. Then he looked at Mondo and he couldn't bring himself to lie to him.

"The money we used at the vet. I didn't earn shit of it. I loaned it from my friend." Daiya explained and cleared his throat. "Apparently he wanted the money today. But I didn't have enough. And I didn't give him one piece of our fucking money." He sniffed. Chuck laid his head on Daiya's lap to comfort him.

"He took my bike." Daiya noticed his little brother flinch. "But don't worry. I'll get a better one, y'know why?" He stared at his little brother into his eyes. "I'm gonna start a gang. A fucking motorcycle gang. And you'll be the first member, the vp." He snorted and threw his head back on the couch, drifting off right away.

Mondo listened to his big brother snore as he cleaned his wounds with some cotton wool. *Was he serious...He's pretty wasted...* Mondo wondered. Daiya had seemed very serious. In fact, something in his tone made Mondo feel like Daiya had been thinking about it for a while rather than just coming up with it a few minutes ago.

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Daiya was woken up by Chuck who happily licked his face wet. "Okay, okay boy..." He lifted his head up feeling a little ache around his whole face. *Oh yeah...* He remembered the other night. That he had gotten drunk after the fight with his friend. Daiya got up fast. He looked around the living room. It was really quiet in the apartment.

"Bro?" Daiya called for Mondo but the only sound he heard was the clock ticking. He started listening to it, it was making his head hurt the longer he listened, that annoying sound that was like a proof of one's loneliness. For a moment he thought about smashing the clock but then he calmed himself down.

After taking a piss Daiya changed his clothes and sat down at the table in the kitchen. He made a call to his pissed off boss and claimed he was sick for the day. Regardless of his boss' growling he managed to get the day-off. He laid his head on the table taking in a deep breath. His head jerked back up when he heard the door open and close. He turned his head slightly and saw Mondo enter the kitchen.

"Hey," Daiya said as Mondo was washing his hands. "Where were ya?" He asked and Mondo's head dropped slightly as he turned around. "I was watering the flowers..." he murmured and Daiya turned in his seat. "Miss Kotoha's?" He asked and Mondo nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"You know you don't need to do that, right?"

"I know, I just..." Mondo sighed. "The flowers were important to her...She always told me that even the most beautiful flowers would wither away in the end, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve a good life..." Mondo's words made Daiya flinch a little. That was pretty close to what she had once said to Daiya too. Daiya opened his mouth in order to say something but instead he chuckled and ruffled Mondo's hair. The corner of Mondo's mouth twisted into a smile.

"Hey, I'm sorry about last night, didn't mean to frighten ya or anythin'..." Daiya explained, feeling a bit embarrassed. "It was irresponsible of me to..."

"I don't mind," Mondo interrupted. "You came back, right? That's what matters to me."

This was a very random chapter. Oh and sorry for my boring chapter names, I'm really not too creative with them haha.