"Why am I being punished, Silver?" Taiga asked between loud sniffles.
"All I'm doing is protecting my brother," he said. "Why am I being tortured day in and day out? Is lying to protect someone really that bad? Shin would be in shambles if I told him the truth, so what choice did I have?"
"Would he be in shambles?" Silver asked.
"Yes! Yes, he would! Ever since we were kids, he's seen himself as the inferior sibling. The dumber one, the uglier one, the bigger loser. People said all sorts of stuff like that to his face on a daily basis. He practically grew up being seen as lesser. I was the one with the better grades. I was the one who knew how to act politely. I was the one who managed our money. I was the one who begged for a job through the streets of town after our parents disappeared. Yet I'm the one being tormented in this forest."
"Even after all the pain you've gone through tonight, you still think you made the right choice by lying to Shin?" said Silver.
"You don't understand. This is for his sake. I'll head over to the Don in four days' time and convince him to try giving Shin a Fraze again. The Don obviously needs me for something, so I'll use that as a bargaining chip to get Shin an ability. I still remember him staying up all night, bloodshot eyes, reading all the comics he had stolen from the local comic book store. He's always been infatuated with fiction like that. It would tear him apart to see me living out his dream."
The two sat in silence.
"Now, how do I get out of this stupid box?"
Kurosawa Residence
Shin was woken up by the heavy footsteps of his brother at 3:21 a.m. and grabbed the phone charging on the floor beside his bed. Having forgotten to turn the brightness down the night before, he was blasted in the face with a concentrated white beam that forced his eyes into a squint.
"Agh!" the loser cried before dropping his phone onto the floor.
He got out of bed to pick it up and decided to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen while he was at it. Arriving at the sink, he began filling a nearby mug branded with the insult, "World's Worst Brother".
He had bought that mug for Taiga on his birthday last year—a hilarious prank, he proudly proclaimed.
While downing the water, a pulsating light caught his attention.
He placed the mug down and made his way to the edge of the kitchen countertop.
There, he saw the Map of Parliament Taiga had bought the day prior.
Golden text seemed to fade in and out across its surface like a heartbeat.
Analysing it carefully, Shin was able to deduce the contents of the message.
'The brave may stand.
The weak may flee.
Yet your destination lies somewhere between.
Search where "flee" becomes "flea",
And the old are given new purpose.'
"What bullshit!" Shin exclaimed before snapping a picture of the map.
Unfortunately, the mysterious ink wasn't picked up by his camera, which only frustrated the boy further.
"So someone's in a mysterious mood today. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say this is the Don's doing. I wonder if this magic works both ways."
The young man proceeded to grab a nearby permanent marker, flip the map over, and begin writing.
'Hey, Mr Don.
Listen here, you big loser. Where do you get off calling my brother and me incompatible freaks?! Just you wait, you ginger monster! Me and Taiga are gonna storm into your Oval Office in Aria and teach you not to mess with us. Fraze or no Fraze, you're a dead man!
Kind Regards,
Shin Kurosawa'
Satisfied, the boy returned to his bedroom and immediately fell asleep upon impact with his soft, warm pillows.
The Forest
"Taiga?" asked Silver.
"Yeah?" replied Taiga.
"You don't love your brother, do you?"