"A Mature Brat"

Although Kin wasn't happy when he picked me up, I sounded so excited, I guess I calmed him down. He demanded to speak to my new boss and I had eagerly told him about Teji. He seemed even happier than I was when he heard that I was going to be working with Teji.

"Lets go," he said, and strode past me into the store.

One problem. Asato was in the store!

I ran after him desperately. "Kin! I'm sure he's busy right now. Between shifts and all that."

"Tai," Kin snapped. I shut up, knowing it wasn't very smart to argue anymore. Sulking, I dragged my feet behind him. He waited for me at the entrance into the shop, and I made my way towards him.

"What is it you don't want me to see?"

"Nothing!"

He raised his brow and held open the door, waiting for me go ahead of him. I came into the shop just in time to see Asato dive into the back room as Teji pretended to fuss with a pile of papers on the counter. He looked up at me and smiled, nodding to Kin.

"Hello, Kyingiku."

"Please, Teji, just Kin," Kin laughed. "So Tai's told me that you're his new boss."

"It appears so."

"You worked for Hiunoi, as well, then?"

"I've worked for Mr. Hiunoi for years. He had confessed a few concerns about Elite servants bothering Tai lately and had suggested him coming to work over here for a while, so he felt very guilty for not doing this earlier."

"Problems with Elite servants? Like what?" he looked down at me accusingly and I looked away, unsure of how to answer him.

"Oh nothing much," Teji hurriedly put in. "Just that he didn't like the idea of Tai being around those sort of snobbish people. He's always wanted Tai to be closer to home, anyway." He winked at me when Kin calmed down and I smiled back.

"Well, even though Tai decided to accept the job offer in a way I don't approve of," he gave me a pointed look, "I'm glad that Hiunoi found a closer workplace, though."

Teji cocked his head to the side, looking to me. I could only shrug in reply, too embarrassed to say anything after Kin's obvious scolding in front of Teji.

"Well, I'm glad you approve of his new settings. I'll make sure he's never bothered here. I'm sure he's tied, though, and I have to get back to work."

"Of course. Thank you, Teji," Kin smiled and led me out of the store.

I mouthed a quick 'sorry' before I left, catching a glimpse of Asato peeking out from around the corner.

0000000000

"Does that happen often?" Astao asked.

"What?"

"You getting a verbal ass-whuppin' in front of others."

I sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "No, he's usually nicer, but he was mad yesterday and didn't have any time to calm down. He apologized last night, though. He didn't mean to snap at me so much or embarrass me, I know that."

"Sounded like he was to me," Asato scoffed.

"Neither or you are going to turn me against the other, so stop trying."

"He's your brother, I wouldn't do that!"

I sighed and rolled onto my back. After a few days of work, Teji told me what days I had off and Asato had asked me to visit him the second he found out my new schedule.

I stared up at the blue sky above me. A few white clouds flecked against the blue and I could see some gray storm clouds in the distant. When Asato asked where I wanted to go, I had only shrugged, but then decided exploring his mansion-like house would be exciting.

We were laying out on a large, beat up day-couch on his back porch.

"Everyone's probably asleep right now, we'll go in a bit later," he explained.

He had cut off my questions by offering me a drink and leading me to the back porch quickly.

"Hey," I said, suddenly remembering what he had said earlier. "Why would everyone be asleep?"

"Its," he glanced at the thin watch on his left wrist, "just about two in the afternoon – all the kids are asleep."

"Kids? Like those two I saw last time?"

He grinned. "Taki and Hiko are great. Hiko, the smaller one, slept when Ganei was yelling at me, but Taki started crying and got me out of it earlier because Teji got mad at Ganei for upsetting him."

"You got yelled at?"

"Yeah, 'cause I wasn't supposed to bother you and Kin anymore, but I ran after you and Ganei got mad and said I was being an idiot and disrespectful and a lot of other junk."

I frowned. "Sorry."

"You didn't make me do it," he said, leaning forward to kiss my cheek. "See? I can't help myself."

I smiled slightly and looked away for a moment. "Well, about them… Taki and Hiko… why do they live here? Are they the only kids?"

"Oh no! There's about eight of 'em altogether, and then there's all the others. They aren't kids, most of them are older than me, but they have night jobs, so they sleep during the day.

"We aren't allowed to make any noise inside until around three or four, depending on when the kids start waking up. It won't be much longer, don't worry."

"Tell me why all these people are here. Teji said this is a boarding house."

I had heard of boarding houses before, but none as large as Asato's. And he seemed so relaxed around the people there, praising the children and obeying Teji. How did he get from the orphanage to this place?"

"Well, if people don't have a place to stay, our friends refer him to this place. There are almost a twenty people living here now, I think. There might be one or two more."

"So…this boarding house, its free."

"Pretty much. I mean, everyone gives the house a bit of their pay check to keep things going, but if they didn't, Teji wouldn't say anything." He looked at his watch again, sighing. "Fuck. Moe than another hour."

"How do you know we can go inside then?"

Asato shrugged, smiling a bit. "The house is sort of on a schedule. All the kids have to take a nap at a certain time so the people who work nights have a few guaranteed hours of sleep. The kids all sleep hour about two hours, at least, and they only just laid down about an hour ago. So, no bothering the peace until the kids wake up."

"And Taki and Hiko…are they orphans?" I asked, hoping to figure a few more things out about Asato.

He frowned, lowering his head a bit. "Yeah. We found 'em. We found all the kids here. Like, one kid, we found him sneaking outta the orphanage, running for his life, and took him in."

"Its so nice of you all to take in children like that," I gushed, sounding, I'm sure, like a love-sick puppy fawning over a stronger dog.

"Well, we had to! I mean, that's how we got here in the first place."

"What do you mean?" I sat up a bit straighter, realizing that I was finally going to find out a bit about Asato's childhood after I had last seen him at the orphanage.

He closed his eyes and laid back on the large porch-couch we were sitting on crossed his arms behind hi head. "That's where I met Teji and Ganei, at the orphanage. They took care of me while I was there. Then, when I was seven, they brought me with them when they ran away." He sighed, smiling a bit. "Ganei was nicer then. We had to run for miles, and he carried me the whole way.

"They're a lot older, you know. Teji doesn't look it, but he's twenty-two, and Ganei's twenty-three."

"That's really old for a mongrel," I blurted out, not thinking. At all.

Mongrels weren't known for living long. In fact, the average life expectancy was only 17, at most. Kin had once told me it was because of the multiple infant deaths, but I knew that wasn't all there was to it. There were murders, gang murders, police murders. So many dead bodies left in the street at night.

"It's a miracle, then," Asato said, stretching and sitting up. "Fuck waiting. Its hot."

He stood and pulled me up after him and we went inside. He led me to the living room and we curled on one of the large black couches there. The air conditioning felt nice after sitting outside in the sun, and for a moment, we did nothing but lay there, gratefully basking in the cool air.

Sighing contentedly, he flipped on the television, turning the volume low.

"…he heat's going away soon. Slight chances of today. Wouldn't that be nice? A good rain after such a heat wave. Clouds are starting to form rapidly over the boundaries of Kilan, and…."

"Rain, huh?" Asato glanced out a nearby window. "I didn't notice the clouds before."

"I like the rain," I said happily. "It smells so nice afterwards."

Asato came back to the couch, sitting close to me.

"You're so cute, Tai. I love it."

He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine, smiling when I squeaked in surprise. He pulled back for air and pulled my head closer, laughing softly against my lips. He bit my lower lip softly, and I knew he wanted me to open my mouth, but I decided to play a bit and turned my head some, laughing at his frown.

His frown only deepened when we heard a pathetic mewl of distress from the staircase.

"Teji!" sobbed a child's voice from somewhere on the stairs. "Teji! Ganei!"

Asato practically jumped from the couch and rushed to the stairs, scooping up a small child into his arms. "Quiet, Taki! You're going to wake everyone up."

"Asa! Asa, I had a bad dream," Taki sobbed, clinging desperately to Asato's shirt.

"You're fine, now. Stop crying, Taki," Asato whispered, wiping the tears from Taki's face. He turned to look at me and I smiled back, patting the spot on the couch next to me.

"Come and sit with me and Tai," he offered Taki, walking over to me and sitting down with Taki on his lap.

"Tai?" Taki said, confused.

I waved slightly at the small boy balanced on Asato's hip. He shyly waved back before clutching his small teddy bear again and sucking his thumb. He looked a bit shaken, and clung almost desperately to Asato's shirt, and I couldn't stop picturing myself and Kin. As a child, I was prone to nightmares and spent many nights clinging to Kin while he comforted me, just like Asato was trying to do with Taki.

"Remember me, Taki? I was over here a little while ago – my brother came, too. You were coloring, too," I offered, trying to help him remember.

"This kid always colors," Asato laughed. "Its not a very distinct way of telling the passage of time."

Taki nodded happily. "I color every day! Except when Ganei is mad at me, then I have to go to bed," he pouted.

"Well, maybe next time you can show me some of your artwork."

"I can!" he exclaimed proudly, smiling brilliantly at me.

"Show off," Asato teased, poking him in the stomach.

Taki giggled happily and Asato walked over to the couch, stopping with a sigh when we heard the ceiling creaking and a few thunks of small feet hitting the floor.

"They're awake," Asato sighed, setting Taki down on the couch.

"I'm sorry," Taki whimpered.

"Its fine, kiddo. Can you watch him for a minute, Tai?"

"Sure." I had felt sort of useless up until then. I had never had to deal with kids before, and didn't know what to do with the small child now sitting next to me on the couch. But I couldn't say no, could I? Impossible.

I watched Asato disappear upstairs and listened to the muffled voices upstairs for a minute before standing and picking up Taki. "Want to know what's happening?"

He nodded eagerly and I followed the voices upstairs, finding Asato surrounded by a small group of children, the oldest looking to be about eight. He was trying to talk them into going back to bed, but they ignored him, begging for snacks or to play.

"No, you guys. Go back to bed. Hey! Don't hit him! Jin! Do you want to get in trouble? Shh, be quiet. Everyone's sleeping."

Asato wasn't entirely right. A small group of people, half dressed or in wrinkled clothing, none looking very happy.

"What are you doing, Asa?" one boy, about twelve, asked.

"Why were you sleeping, Byanki?" Asato snapped.

"I was just taking a nap. I didn't sleep a lot last night," the boy explained, looking a bit ashamed for questioning Asato.

"Yeah, so shut it," Asato sighed as he picked up Jin, who continued to swat at a smaller child. "Knock it off, Jin. Can someone help me calm 'em down?" he begged.

A few people began to shush the children, wincing when the children shouted angrily in reply, refusing to be coaxed back to bed.

"What's all the screaming about?" thundered a deep voice.

Asato immediately straightened, tightening his hold on the struggling Jin. I almost laughed at his reaction, but, after glancing at Ganei's stern face, I decided against it.

Ganei, a tall mongrel with short, neat black hair in faded jeans and a weathered work jacket, did not, in the least bit, look pleased. He glowered at the group gathered in the hallway, growing more agitated by the second as his question went unanswered.

He looked down at a child by his feet. "Why are you up, little boy?"

"I heard something loud," he answered, reaching up eagerly.

Ganei picked him up and tucked him under one arm, making the boy giggle. "What did you hear?"

The children shrugged, looking to each other for help. "It was scary," one boy answered.

"Excuse me," I said, jumping when Ganei turned his glare to me. "Taki had a nightmare, his crying woke them up."

Ganei looked down at Taki, still held tightly against my chest. "You had a bad dream, Taki?"

Taki nodded, whimpering again. Ganei sighed and set down the boy he was holding, reaching for Taki, who I handed over as soon as he moved his arms my way.

"They won't go back to bed, Asa, no matter what. Go play, kids, I'll make something for you in a bit." He watched the children rush downstairs and turned to the group of tired-looking residents. "I'll try to keep them as quiet as I can."

The group nodded and trudged back to their rooms, yawning and muttering bitterly.

Ganei turned back to me, looking me over quickly. "You're Kin's brother, yeah? Didn't get a good look at you last time."

"Yes, I'm Tai. I'm working with Teji, now."

He smiled slightly, catching my attempt to avoid Kin's name. "Kin's brother," he repeated. "Come help, Asa. We'll make something to keep the kids quiet."

"Yeah, Ganei," Asato grumbled, he looked at me, pouting. "I was actually going to hang out with Tai, so could I -?"

"Get your ass downstairs," Ganei snapped, bouncing Taki on his hip.

"But!"

"Shut it. Downstairs."

Defeated, Asato trudged behind Ganei down the stairs, growling at me when he heard me laughing.

I helped Ganei and Asato fix sandwiches and cut up fruit for the dozen or so children that ran around happily in the backyard. Ganei had let Taki out to play once we had reached the kitchen and he watched the kids run outside while he had us set up the table.

"Lets go," Asato whispered when we had finished setting up the table.

He yanked on my hand and we snuck out of the kitchen, rushing upstairs.

"Sorry about that. When I agreed to bring you here, I had forgotten about the time. And I didn't think Ganei would be such an ass and make us do crap today."

"Its alright, I'm glad I got to see how you live. I wanted to more about this place."

"Why? Its so lame. Ganei makes up new rules every day and there's always people complaining about sleep, day and night, all the time, just whining about how little sleep they got. I wanna shoot 'em!"

I laughed at that flustered look on his face as he huffed about his home life. He's a kid, through and through, no matter how much taller than me he is, or how he can care for others. He's what, in all definitions, what Kin would call a brat.