Kazuo

1: Brother

1: Brother

I admired my brother so much. We were identical, but our personalities were two worlds apart. He would be the outgoing friendly one whereas I was the alienated mean one. I hated humans. I hated any forms of interactions. However, I wanted the success my brother had. I wanted my parents to look proudly at me, but all they did was look up to my brother. I was constantly compared day and night. It was driving me insane.

One afternoon my brother came into my room. "Ki, could you please watch after Satoshi today? I really need to be there for my girlfriend's graduation." He held out some money in his hand. "I'll give you this if you do."

My eyes glistened at the sight of the cash. "Fine. What do I got to do? Watch the kid?" I took the money and shoved it in my back pocket.

"Pretty much. He loves playing outside. He gets splinters a lot so here is a kit with tweezers." He hands me a pearly gold pouch with essential first aid stuff and a pair of tweezers securely packed in a plastic container to avoid poking the bag.

"Hm sure. Whatever." I took the pouch and checked my watch. "I'm assuming you want me to go now?" I looked at Kazuo.

"Yeah. You know where he lives. Mom goes there all the time." He chuckled.

"Yeah yeah I know. Have fun with your girlfriend." I was a bit spiteful towards Kazuo. He seemed to have it all, but I didn't. It's not that I want a girlfriend. Girls just annoy the hell out of me or have no sense of humor. I just want a girl that will obey me and look good. Simple. Yet no such thing exists.

I was always second next to Kazuo. Everyone in school liked him. All the girls would be frolicking around him like doves. It was a bit annoying yet quite envious. I've had my fair share of confessions since I looked practically identical to him. The only difference was he dyed his hair this golden blond whereas I kept it black for the longest time. Eventually during junior year I dyed my hair the same color too. I lied to Kazuo saying it was a dare. He ended up believing it so I kept the blond hair.

So many people would mistake me for Kazuo himself. They always seemed disappointed when I told them I was Ki instead. Even my mother would joke saying I should be called Kizuo since I looked just like him at this point. The name was disgusting, but I couldn't levitate away from it so it stuck.

The afternoon I had to watch Satoshi was a weird one. If he truly loves Kazuo then he should know the difference between us right? Every time Satoshi came over our house he would cling to Kazuo like a long lost puppy. In a way I was jealous. I wanted a small kid to teach and play videogames with, but he never bothered talking to me. What was so wrong with me that made everyone have a sour taste whenever they speak my name?

I knocked on Satoshi's house door. His mother opened up and told me the typical stuff I needed to know like important phone numbers, and when to feed Satoshi. Ironically she didn't even know that I was Ki and not Kazuo.

I watched as Satoshi ran to me and hugged my leg. "Kazu! I can't wait to go hiking and build houses out of sticks!" His eyes were bright and his smile was from ear to ear. He was a cute kid. He didn't look at me oddly like he normally would when I had my black hair. I felt kind of bad since I was lying to this kid.

"Let' go make those houses then." I smiled and took his hand. He took my hand and had a firm grip on mine. It was nice. It felt nice feeling somewhat needed or wanted for once.

I'd never knew how much Satoshi liked my brother. He said he wanted to have a kid with Kazuo and how he wanted Kazuo to be his boyfriend. I found it humorous since he doesn't know anything yet. Maybe one day I'll find someone that would want me just as much. Even if they are oblivious to who I really am.