when the zetas fill the skies, will our leaders tell us why

[priorcommitment]

The moment that someone steps into Semele's is the moment that they register on Ishiah's radar. It's important to be able to look into the background of a customer, especially if they later become a regular patron. Most of the time, it's nothing too interesting. Your average salaryman, come to Semele's to have a break and to indulge themselves with good food and drink, sometimes with a family in tow.

When one young man asked recently to see the owner within fifteen minutes of entering, however, Ishiah decided to keep a closer eye on him.

Afterwards, it became a waiting game. The boy's surname was familiar, as was the color of his eyes. Ishiah had considered briefly trailing after the young man and speaking to his more well-acquainted brother, but the brother comes into Semele's often enough on his own, and the last thing Ishiah wants to do is raise alarm before it becomes necessary.

So he waits until Rin comes into the restaurant again late one day, heading directly for a booth at the back of the restaurant and ordering his usual soda as he waits for Nuriko to finish her shift.

Casually, Ishiah makes his way to the table, and seats himself across from Rin.

"I met your brother recently," he says with a slight furrow of his brows, without greeting or preamble.

Comments

[phosphor]

It's true, that unlike some people Rin has known, Ishiah never shies away from sharing his opinion about a thing, even if it's a harsh opinion, and in some ways Rin respects that It's different from his brother's harshness, which can at times be as manipulative as his kindness Which is not to say that Yukio can't be genuine when he wants to. Only that Rin only ever feels like Ishiah feeds him unpleasant truths just because Ishiah thinks they're the truth.

Rin respects that, even if he definitely doesn't like it.

"I love him, but ... I think I drag the worst parts of him out, sometimes. Maybe that says everything about me. Because I'm what I am. And he acts like he's my dad. No, Yukio acts like he's got dad's job, but that dad never did it good enough, so he has to do it better. Raising me. That's what it feels like sometimes."

[priorcommitment]

Even if unaccustomed to working within the framework of another person's emotions regarding a subject, Rin has finally managed to put everything in a manner that Ishiah feels capable of processing. The responsibility of raising someone, of being accountable for their growth, is weighty. Complicated. If Yukio is the type of personality that Ishiah suspects he is, then what's practical is weighed far above being kind, in his mind.

"Sounds like he cares, then," Ishiah says, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest in thought. "Granted, a sibling acting as a parent is bound to create friction. That's probably what you see as the worst part of him. Do you think that he's actually doing a better job, or is it worth communicating that there are certain things you don't want from him?"

[phosphor]

Rin lowers his eyes with a sigh before sucking on his drink again, more for the excuse to have more time to compose his answer than anything. He just .. doesn't talk about it. About him and Yukio. Not even with Shiemi, who he is closest to, after his brother, had he ever really got into the topic. It had upset her.

Almost as much as it upset Rin.

"It's not what he gives me that's the problem," Rin says. "It's not that there's something I don't want from Yukio. It's that sometimes, I feel like, he won't let us just be brothers. I don't need another dad. The one I had ... did great. I want my brother to be my brother. He's all I've got left."

[priorcommitment]

"So what is the distinction that you feel that there should be between father and brother?" Ishiah asks, frowning slightly. He's genuinely curious, at this point. There are ways in which he addresses and protects his peri brothers back home that Rin might qualify as being overly paternal.

But admittedly, it's hard to picture a human carrying that same approach and tone at such a young age. Between the Okumura twins, it feels like there's a difference of years as opposed to hours, for more reasons than the physical.

Before Rin has a chance to answer, Ishiah looks up with a thought. "Do you think that he may feel strongly about being a father to you... because he has a certain opinion of the father you shared? I doubt he treated both of you similarly."

[phosphor]

"I--" Rin starts, before quieting again. He lowers his head slightly, dark blue eyes half-lidded with thought. Resentful, but contemplative. He doesn't like having to think about these things, but once he's made to, he doesn't totally refuse.

Sucking his bottom lip into his mouth, he worries it carefully. "I don't know how Yukio feels. I used to think I did But he was lying to me. For years. For practically our whole lives. And there's no way for me to know .. how much of it all was Yukio, and how much of it was just something Yukio was pretending at, to keep me complacent. The way our dad wanted things. I know dad didn't treat us similarly. But I don't know what Yukio thinks of that. Probably that dad was way too easy on me. If I was Yukio .. I think I'd be angry. Angry at dad. Maybe angry at myself. But Yukio's not me."

[priorcommitment]

"You could stop to ask him questions like this," Ishiah suggests. A first impression isn't enough to offer his suspicions on any of the above, but he's watched Rin more than often enough to know that Rin has a tendency to evaluate everything at face level — and the meeting with Yukio, however brief, showed that the younger brother didn't expose himself so simply.

"If you don't know what Yukio thinks about your father, try to find out. If he seems angry, try to uncover where his anger is directed. The worst case scenario might be that he bears some degree of anger with you, in which case you have the ability to either address that or leave it be. But there's also the chance that there is some other fact that you haven't considered yet that has constructed the wall between the two of you." Ishiah's eyes briefly skirt to Rin's glass, where condensation starts to slide down the side, pooling at the rim.