[AtaDan;prose] one disappointment after another
Ohkura Takeru
Takeru doesn't really know what he's getting into when he says yes to being adopted by Ohkura Shinzo, because anything is better than staying in the home, with other strangers, and it's not like he'll get another chance as good as this again, if he refuses. His track record at the home isn't stellar, what with the fighting and all, and even if it sounds almost too good to be true, Takeru thinks that it can't be anything worse than now. Besides, Ohkura Shinzo is head of Miracle, so it can't be that bad, right?
Fuu is very hard to get along with, Takeru discovers, and tries to get out of his older brother's way as much as possible, because Fuu is a mean and cheating fighter. There's no use trying to bring the issue of Fuu's antagonistic behaviour up with Shinzo; when he's into his brainstorming sessions, Shinzo is either very irritable, or offers such bizarre solutions that Takeru immediately feels that he's stupid for being taken in by them. It doesn't help that Fuu is really such a perfect son, even if he's adopted, even if Shinzo doesn't really seem to acknowledge his achievements. Takeru knows that every new certificate Fuu gets is just another sign of wanting attention from his adoptive father, but Shinzo doesn't really seem to get it, and Takeru can't help but feel a little envious that he can't do better either, to please Shinzo.
He knows that Tokita disapproves of him. Takeru may be stupid, but he's not that dumb, to not notice the disdainful looks Shinzo's personal secretary constantly shoots at him. It makes him want to prove the bootlicker wrong, but trying to learn the things required of the Ohkura heir is really tough, and with each failing he thinks that Shinzo may have made a really huge mistake in adopting him.
When he learns of Shinzo's new son, Takeru tries not to feel hurt at the implication that he's not good enough, and only puts up a perfunctory contest for the heirship. It surprises him a little that he isn't disowned in the process, Takeru knows that the world isn't really kind, but it seems that Shinzo has enough money to support at least one ne'er-do-good kid.
Ohkura Sho looks thin, half-starved, really, but when Takeru inadvertently insults him on their first meeting, Sho doesn't really seem to take offense, but gives it back as good as he got. Takeru likes the fact that he doesn't have to keep up pretenses around Sho, that he's free to be himself.
And it's not hard to like Sho, really, with his charming smile and graceful manners that he picks up very quickly. Unlike Fuu, Sho doesn't seem arrogant about his intelligence at all, and Takeru is grateful for it. Outside of lessons, he brings Sho to his usual haunts, and sometimes they stalk Fuu together when the eldest son goes off on his own.
There was once, when Sho comes down from a meeting with Shinzo (always via appointment, never spontaneous, Shinzo is a busy man, after all), and his face is set in frustration. "He's not listening to me," Sho complains to Takeru, who snidely retorts back, "Join the club," and grins maniacally. "Nobody listens in the family, you saw how Fuu deals."
"You should have warned me about this family," Sho accuses, but not unkindly, and Takeru barks out a laugh, saying, "Well, too bad, you're one of us now."
Still, as the months go by, Takeru begins to think that surely, surely Sho is heir of Miracle. They still don't get along well with Shinzo, but Sho seems to have made the most progress out of the three of them in communicating with their adoptive father, and Takeru is surprisingly okay about it. If he really wanted to admit it, he is happy for Sho, genuinely so. Takeru could care less about the heirship and the money, because he's no stranger to poverty even in the face of affluence, but Sho looks like he deserves to be named as Ohkura heir.
Which is why it surprises him, shocks him, when that day came, and Sho announces, very brusquely, "The heirship is yours." Sho's eyes are dark with pain, and Takeru is left to wonder as to where had all the easy camaderie gone, where was the brother who shared his pranks and his punishments and who confided everything in him, when did he leave.
"I don't want the heirship," Takeru snaps back, and grabs Sho's arm. "Tell me what the hell happened. Why are you doing this?"
Sho literally drags him along to his room, and Takeru feels a little like a yelping dog as his questions are summarily ignored in favour of packing. He's tempted to unpack as Sho packs, even if it's incredibly childish, and in the end he yells, "Fine, I'll ask the old man myself!"
Takeru isn't surprised that, just as he had gotten no answers from Sho, he got none out of Shinzo either, whose closed doors loom larger and larger and more ominously as the days go by. But he is disappointed, disillusioned, and it festers along with all the other disappointments in his life: his education, his lack of achievements, his father. Both his fathers.
"Shinzo ruins everything," Fuu laughs coldly in his face, even as Takeru tries, in desperation, to get his older brother to talk some sense into their youngest. "It's high time you learned, Takeru. Maybe Sho had the right idea after all."
Sho's replacement comes soon enough, a shy mousy teen who hides behind well-tailored jackets and an ever-present scarf ("I was talent-spotted," was the soft explanation). The wound from Sho's abrupt leaving is still fresh, and Takeru is, perhaps, more acerbic than usual. Masaru crumples like wet cardboard at the first insult, and Takeru actually feels a little bad for not even giving him a chance to make friends.
But only for a little while. Takeru doesn't want the kid to have any illusions about whether it will be a happy ending or not, and he thinks darkly that it's for the best, really, that Masaru knew what he's getting into, and, just as Fuu had said, to get out as soon as he can.
There are no miracles in Trick Heart. Takeru wishes that he had known sooner.
Takeru doesn't really know what he's getting into when he says yes to being adopted by Ohkura Shinzo, because anything is better than staying in the home, with other strangers, and it's not like he'll get another chance as good as this again, if he refuses. His track record at the home isn't stellar, what with the fighting and all, and even if it sounds almost too good to be true, Takeru thinks that it can't be anything worse than now. Besides, Ohkura Shinzo is head of Miracle, so it can't be that bad, right?
Fuu is very hard to get along with, Takeru discovers, and tries to get out of his older brother's way as much as possible, because Fuu is a mean and cheating fighter. There's no use trying to bring the issue of Fuu's antagonistic behaviour up with Shinzo; when he's into his brainstorming sessions, Shinzo is either very irritable, or offers such bizarre solutions that Takeru immediately feels that he's stupid for being taken in by them. It doesn't help that Fuu is really such a perfect son, even if he's adopted, even if Shinzo doesn't really seem to acknowledge his achievements. Takeru knows that every new certificate Fuu gets is just another sign of wanting attention from his adoptive father, but Shinzo doesn't really seem to get it, and Takeru can't help but feel a little envious that he can't do better either, to please Shinzo.
He knows that Tokita disapproves of him. Takeru may be stupid, but he's not that dumb, to not notice the disdainful looks Shinzo's personal secretary constantly shoots at him. It makes him want to prove the bootlicker wrong, but trying to learn the things required of the Ohkura heir is really tough, and with each failing he thinks that Shinzo may have made a really huge mistake in adopting him.
When he learns of Shinzo's new son, Takeru tries not to feel hurt at the implication that he's not good enough, and only puts up a perfunctory contest for the heirship. It surprises him a little that he isn't disowned in the process, Takeru knows that the world isn't really kind, but it seems that Shinzo has enough money to support at least one ne'er-do-good kid.
Ohkura Sho looks thin, half-starved, really, but when Takeru inadvertently insults him on their first meeting, Sho doesn't really seem to take offense, but gives it back as good as he got. Takeru likes the fact that he doesn't have to keep up pretenses around Sho, that he's free to be himself.
And it's not hard to like Sho, really, with his charming smile and graceful manners that he picks up very quickly. Unlike Fuu, Sho doesn't seem arrogant about his intelligence at all, and Takeru is grateful for it. Outside of lessons, he brings Sho to his usual haunts, and sometimes they stalk Fuu together when the eldest son goes off on his own.
There was once, when Sho comes down from a meeting with Shinzo (always via appointment, never spontaneous, Shinzo is a busy man, after all), and his face is set in frustration. "He's not listening to me," Sho complains to Takeru, who snidely retorts back, "Join the club," and grins maniacally. "Nobody listens in the family, you saw how Fuu deals."
"You should have warned me about this family," Sho accuses, but not unkindly, and Takeru barks out a laugh, saying, "Well, too bad, you're one of us now."
Still, as the months go by, Takeru begins to think that surely, surely Sho is heir of Miracle. They still don't get along well with Shinzo, but Sho seems to have made the most progress out of the three of them in communicating with their adoptive father, and Takeru is surprisingly okay about it. If he really wanted to admit it, he is happy for Sho, genuinely so. Takeru could care less about the heirship and the money, because he's no stranger to poverty even in the face of affluence, but Sho looks like he deserves to be named as Ohkura heir.
Which is why it surprises him, shocks him, when that day came, and Sho announces, very brusquely, "The heirship is yours." Sho's eyes are dark with pain, and Takeru is left to wonder as to where had all the easy camaderie gone, where was the brother who shared his pranks and his punishments and who confided everything in him, when did he leave.
"I don't want the heirship," Takeru snaps back, and grabs Sho's arm. "Tell me what the hell happened. Why are you doing this?"
Sho literally drags him along to his room, and Takeru feels a little like a yelping dog as his questions are summarily ignored in favour of packing. He's tempted to unpack as Sho packs, even if it's incredibly childish, and in the end he yells, "Fine, I'll ask the old man myself!"
Takeru isn't surprised that, just as he had gotten no answers from Sho, he got none out of Shinzo either, whose closed doors loom larger and larger and more ominously as the days go by. But he is disappointed, disillusioned, and it festers along with all the other disappointments in his life: his education, his lack of achievements, his father. Both his fathers.
"Shinzo ruins everything," Fuu laughs coldly in his face, even as Takeru tries, in desperation, to get his older brother to talk some sense into their youngest. "It's high time you learned, Takeru. Maybe Sho had the right idea after all."
Sho's replacement comes soon enough, a shy mousy teen who hides behind well-tailored jackets and an ever-present scarf ("I was talent-spotted," was the soft explanation). The wound from Sho's abrupt leaving is still fresh, and Takeru is, perhaps, more acerbic than usual. Masaru crumples like wet cardboard at the first insult, and Takeru actually feels a little bad for not even giving him a chance to make friends.
But only for a little while. Takeru doesn't want the kid to have any illusions about whether it will be a happy ending or not, and he thinks darkly that it's for the best, really, that Masaru knew what he's getting into, and, just as Fuu had said, to get out as soon as he can.
There are no miracles in Trick Heart. Takeru wishes that he had known sooner.