the strong, the weak and the two
title the strong, the weak and the two
fandom actors, takagi twins
pairing manpei x shinpei
word count 2108
rating pg-13
the strong, the weak and the two
Manpei knows that as the older twin, he should take care of the younger, weaker twin. He knows, but it’s midnight and he’s not home yet. He’s somewhere out on the streets, pinning a girl (whose name he doesn’t even know) against the wall and stealing her lips away. Girls are easy, really. He doesn’t make love to her though, he knows where to draw the line. He returns home at two in the morning, his parents don’t reprimand him for that and Shinpei’s asleep already.
He wishes him a goodnight before settling himself next to him.
-
Manpei doesn’t forget to tell Shinpei he’s leaving, even though the younger twin isn’t awake yet. When he arrives in school, Yusuke takes him by the arm and hisses into his ear, “I heard about you and Tsuchiya”. Manpei pushes him off and grunts, “Who the fuck is Tsuchiya?”. Yusuke’s jaw drop and Manpei would love to drop a bomb into that annoying mouth. He never stops talking. “That girl you got on with yesterday night!” Yusuke insists. Manpei turns around in a split second, halting Yusuke in his steps, “Nothing happened”
He stomps off, down the corridor, leaving a confused Yusuke.
But he stops at the door when he remembers second period is physical education. He decides to play truant, steps away from the door, away from education and he’s just cool that way.
-
Yusuke catches Manpei at the rooftop on third period, “Manpei. You’re skipping third period?”. Manpei rolls over, he doesn’t reply and Yusuke takes it as a yes. He joins him on the rooftop.
-
“Is a tattoo painful?” Yusuke asks over bentos and orange juice.
Manpei almost chokes on his sweetened egg roll, “What?”. Yusuke shrugs and takes a sip of his orange juice, “I was thinking of getting a tattoo. Like the one on your back”. Manpei puts down his lunch box and stares at Yusuke for five seconds, “I didn’t ask to be tattooed on”. Yusuke doesn’t show a change in his expressions, “Sorry”. They eat their lunch box in awkward silence.
“Yusuke”
Yusuke finishes his orange juice, “Hm?”
“I won’t be attending school for the next month”
Yusuke doesn’t ask why, he’s used to it. He’s used to Manpei skipping physical education. He’s used to Manpei’s stupid brown hair and he’s used to being with the future mafia leader. He’s used to it. “Don’t get yourself killed,” he says instead. Manpei only gives him a smile and they finish their lunch.
-
Manpei remembers, when he was fourteen, he was given the choice of being the heir or being thrown out.
He remembers, being forced to take the choice of being the heir when he sees Shinpei break down into fits of coughs, gasping for air and struggling for warmth. “If you’re not going to be the heir, Shinpei will take your place,” were the words that haunted him. He is the older twin, that should take care of the younger twin. It was pride. It wasn’t love or anything, it was pride. Manpei continued to brainwash himself. Shinpei falls asleep peacefully after an hour of tossing around in pain, Manpei feels in peace watching a peaceful Shinpei.
-
“Why isn’t Shinpei allowed out of the house?” Manpei asks his father when he gets home that day.
“He’s weak”
-
Manpei doesn’t understand why Shinpei isn’t home when he’s back at three in the morning. He runs around the house in search of his younger twin, only to see him escorted in with wrapped bandages and wounds. “What happened?” Manpei asks before they both fall asleep, Shinpei only pokes his cheek, “I was walking in my sleep”
He knows he’s lying, but he lets it go.
-
He starts to get worried, when Shinpei isn’t home for the second time when he’s back at two in the morning.
-
Shinpei knows that he’s the younger, weaker twin.
He knows that he can do nothing but only sleep when Manpei’s in school studying, at work and when he’s somewhere in alleys picking up girls. He knows that he can do nothing but submit to sleep even though he wills himself to stay up and wait for Manpei to come home. He knows that he’s useless.
He shouldn’t have been born.
-
“Shinpei? Are you awake?”
Shinpei opens his eyes and shuts them almost immediately, eyes not used to the blinding rays of sunlight that penetrates their translucent shoji screen. “Uncle?” he says, groggily and rubs his eyes, dry coughs escaping his lips. “Please come to the meeting hall. We’d like to discuss something” replies the uncle across the shoji screen. Shinpei mumbles a soft yes, but loud enough for him to hear.
He washes his face and drags his heavy feet towards the meeting hall, dropping a few coughs along the way. “Shinpei-sama, please have a seat,” comes a voice when he enters, Shinpei only nods to the words and takes the seat at the centre. “Is there... anything wrong?” Shinpei fidgets around when he notices the thick tension in the air. “We have a favor to ask of you, Shinpei-sama”
-
“It’s acute bronchitis, they said” Shinpei tells Manpei over dinner (he got home early). Manpei stops eating almost instantly, Shinpei reassures him almost immediately, “It’s not permenant though, so don’t worry!”. Manpei smiles softly and brushes the strand of hair off Shinpei’s face, “I’ve been wondering” he pauses. Shinpei realizes that his brother’s face is inches from his, “Have you ever wanted to go to school?”
“Yes,” he replies in triumph.
He wants to tell him that I want to walk to and from school with you everyday, but he keeps it to himself, knowing that it will never come true because he is the younger, weaker, useless twin. But he is allowed to dream, to dream that he would be healthier one day, to attend college with Manpei, laugh like there are no worries and be lesser of a burden to Manpei.
He dreams of a dream that will never come true.
-
This is for Manpei, he mutters to reassure himself when he is brought to the hotel. His uncle puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him an encouraging pat, “If we manage to get the contract, you’ll be helping Manpei-sama in a lot of ways”. Shinpei nods and takes the hotel key from him, slightly worried yet slightly excited at the fact that he would be of help to his older, stronger twin.
Even if that meant offering his body in exchange.
It is the October 22nd when Manpei jumps Shinpei on their bed and he whispers happy birthday in his ears. They sneak out of the house together, for the first time in a long long time. Shinpei glances at their entwined fingers,a smile plays on his lips. They start from ice cream, to cakes, to arcades, to fortune telling and they finally stop at the park.
“Is there anything you want, Shinpei?”
Shinpei gives a small squeeze in their locked hands, “I want to see the fireworks”
Manpei doesn’t ask why, knowing the reason to his answer. Shinpei is never allowed to leave the house during New Years, Christmas or any other events, because he’s weak, but Manpei always remembers to buy something to commemorate the day with him. The older twin leans in, and under the orange sunset, decorated by beams of pink rays, he plants his lips on Shinpei’s and when they break the kiss, Shinpei gives him a warm embrace.
“Thank you for loving me” he whispers in a soft hush.
When they return home later that night, their father reprimands them for bringing Shinpei out ‘because he could collapse at any time’ and that ‘he wouldn’t be able to do anything if he did collapse’. Manpei’s fingers ball into a fist but Shinpei pulls his sleeve to tell him that it’s alright because nothing happened. They sit by the shoji screen that night, watching constellations and telling each other stories with their fingers still entwined.
Manpei falls asleep on Shinpei’s shoulders.
-
The memories of Christmas and New Years are the most memorable ones to Shinpei. On the 24th of December, he would be taken from his room to the backyard, where there is another room, with a bed, a small window and a bathroom. It’s dusty but his dad tells him that he has to stay there from Christmas to New Years because ‘we don’t want our relatives to look down on us’ and ‘Manpei has to pay his respects, we don’t want him looking for you all the time’.
And from the small window, he can see the blinking lights of fireworks during New Years. He makes a wish that he would like to see the fireworks one day.
Memories of Christmas and New Years are the most memorable to Shinpei, because he can have a glimpse of the fireworks.
(He thinks the view would be even more beautiful if he could watch it with Manpei)
When Manpei hears the news of Shinpei being sent to the hospital, his heart drops down a flight of stairs, his stomach churns and his feet carries him faster than the wind to the hospital. He runs up the stairs because he can’t bear to wait for the elevator, and he arrives in room 5043 drenched in sweat that’s soaking through his uniform. He sees Shinpei trembling miserably and he takes a step closer. “Shin..pei...?” He says, cautiously and his voice is an alarm to Shinpei.
Shinpei snaps his head upwards in alarm and throws his pillow off, climbing off the bed.
“Don’t come near me! D-Don’t come n-near me!”
Manpei lets the pillow hit him, he stares at his younger brother curling himself at the corner, hugging his knees and trembling in fear, what’s going on, is something he’d like to ask. He feels a tug at his sleeve and he sees his uncle who’s gesturing the door telling him that ‘I’ll explain’.
It’s a given that Manpei would have punched his uncle in his face and kneed him in his balls when he tells him that he sold Shinpei to obtain the contract to the casino in Las Vegas and that he got raped by four men. He continues punching his uncle’s face until his nose breaks, teeth falls out and struggles against the people who tried to separate them. “HOW COULD YOU!” He screams in anger.
“He was my twin! He was my other half! How could you!”
-
Manpei visits Shinpei the following week, his heart drops another flight of stairs when he realizes Shinpei doesn’t know he is. He doesn’t visit his twin after that. (But he does drop by from time to time, gets a glance of Shinpei and leaves without greeting the patient.)
Six year later.
“Boss, we’ve caught the boy who was selling drugs on our turf,” someone reports from the door. Manpei looks up from his black wooden desk, “Bring him to the basement” He orders as he recaps his pen and fixes his suit. He exits the room with an aura of confidence and takes the elevator down. As he presses the ‘close’ button in the elevator, someone yells ‘wait’ somewhere from the other side the elevator and Manpei immediately switches to ‘open’.
The said man rushes into the elevator in gasps, with documents piled up in his chest and he replies ‘thanks’ between pants for air.
Manpei looks at the man and he thinks that God must exist.
The elevator stops at floor two, the said man rushes out and Manpei wants to call out to him, but he stops when he sees a girl running up to him in happy grins and lovestruck faces. When he sees her kiss Shinpei’s cheek, Manpei thinks that God doesn’t exist after all. He presses the ‘close’ button and at the corner of his eyes, he sees it.
He sees Shinpei looking over his shoulder.