The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 17~♫

'What?' Kagetsu clenched his fists and glanced at Aiyoku, who returned his gaze. 'Something is off for sure.' Their brother's movements had never been so sluggish.

After the lesson, they had to move to a different room for science to conduct experiments and work with models. Aiyoku lured all girls away with a simple hand gesture, clearing half of the classroom.

Rigaku tried to stand up, but his knees gave under him, sending him backward onto his butt.

"You okay, bro?" Kagetsu looked at him with slightly knitted eyebrows.

His oldest brother fixed his posture, adjusting his glasses to gain a second of time. "Yes, everything is alright. My foot only slipped." He played it as nothing.

Kagetsu glanced across the empty classroom. "Look, I'm too stupid to get—"

"You're not!" Rigaku barked as he jumped to his feet, overturning the chair. Its clatter roared like a rumble of thunder. Biting his lip, he picked it up.

Kagetsu's wide eyes needed a few seconds to return to their normal size. "I mean, I can't contre... compare..." He took a deep breath.

"Comprehend."

"That one." He pointed at his brother with a smile. "Simply put, relax." He gently fist-bumped Rigaku's chest. "There is a perk of being small." He patted his shoulder. "I have the perfect height for leaning on."

Rigaku's lips curved up, something he didn't do in recent years. "Thank you. I'll make sure to not skip on good night's rest."

Together they left, heading to laboratories on the ground floor. There they worked in groups, conducting a simple experiment where transparent liquids changed their color, and some crystallized when mixed with others. Next to it, the board filled with hexagonal drawings and letters simultaneously with numbers, and Kagetsu's head almost exploded.

He was thrilled when the lesson ended, and he didn't burn anything like the last time. But that might be thanks to his oldest brother being in his group. Kagetsu witnessed another staggering step from his sibling, who never failed to fix his composure.

"Is there something I can do?" he whispered in his brother's ear.

"It's nothing, really." Rigaku shook his head, continuing to the next class.

As he took his seat, his vision blurred, and the submissions for the Garden Parade spread across the floor.

"Not now," he muttered, falling heavily on his knees. Tears filled his eyes, and he pushed them away with wild blinking. He barely listened to people around him, helping him to put all the papers back.

"Oh, yes, thank you," he mumbled, putting them into the folder. Then he shuffled his textbooks a few times before he got everything needed.

Stares from his worried siblings didn't reach him. The Japanese lesson ended with no sign of his weaknesses, but the P.E. would turn into hell, so he used the contest to his advantage to skip it.