Chapter Text
"I'm home," Kaito's exhausted voice called out, shutting the door behind him. He couldn't wait to see young his step-brother, Len, he is always a breath of fresh air after a day of loud customers and just barely edible food at the minimum wage paying burger joint he works at. As he kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket, a sudden yet familiar voice echoed through the hallway, it was Len running to Kaito like he hadn't seen him in a decade. Len's eyes shone like a robin's egg, his messy, banana-like hair bobbed as he ran as fast as his small legs could carry him and his smile seemed as if it could make the toughest of men blush.
Len ran to Kaito, gripping his leg with a surprising strength for a kid as small as him. Len looks up at Kaito with those unintentional puppy dog eyes that are impossible to resist. "Onii-chan, you're home, you're home, you're home!" he chanted with joy filling his voice as he looked up at his sun.
Kaito chuckled, his hellish day at work forgotten, everything in his mind replaced by his little brother "You seem excited..." he teased, gently ruffling the spiky yellow hair. His smile quickly turns into a childish pout "Well, duh! You've been gone for hours! I sat around all day watching baby cartoons and eating the pudding you left me..." Len replied, pointing to the empty pudding cups scattered around the floor.
The pout makes Kaito burst into tears, not being able to take him seriously with that look. He bends down to pick up the kid and pinch his red cheeks, making Len whine with a mix of annoyance and joy. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had to go through that, must've been a fate worse than death," Kaito said sarcastically, trying to keep his laughter contained.
Kaito carries Len to the coach and sets him down with a gentle thud. "Since you were so bored, how about we watch a movie together?" Kaito suggests, trying to raise Len's spirits. He can't help but feel a tug at his heart when he sees his little brother running for his attention. Just the thought of seeing this energy help Kaito get through long hours at work, it made him wanted.
"Oh yeah! But don't pick any boring movies!" Len exclaimed, jumping up and down on the couch. Kaito grinned when he heard to not pick a 'boring' movie, it was time to put on a horror movie.
"Boring, huh? Sure you won't pee your pants at anything more than mickey mouse?" Kaito teases, a wide grin playing on his lips. "Hey I'm 7 not 5 I can handle whatever you throw at me!" Len retorts, defensively crossing his arms over his chest.
Kaito turns on the TV and finds a horror movie with the same basic plot that wasn't really scary to anyone older than Len's age, it was perfect. "Alight... if you can 'handle whatever I throw' then catch this!" Kaito turns on the 'horror movie' and sits down next to Len, stretching his legs out and folding his arms, watching his reaction with a smug expression.
The movie was full of overused horror tropes that were more tired than scary, cheap scares and characters as bland as the color grading in this movie, the movie was more of a ‘cheesy’ movie than a ‘horror’ movie but that didn’t matter to Len because all he could think about was not looking like a wimp in front of Kaito but even that fell flat on its face when there was a jump scare. Kaito remained static at the jump scare, making him roll his eyes but Len jumped and hid his face on Kaito’s side, making Kaito feel guilty. His smug grin falls seeing Len shake in his arms.
He gently pulls Len in his lap, wrapping his arms around him in a comforting hug. "It's okay, Len... It's just a movie, they can't hurt you..." Kaito whispers as he strokes Len's Jasmine locks with a love that most wouldn't expect from siblings, it was a lot more romantic than intended, exposing some of Kaito’s true feelings. Kaito's embrace, soon enough, clams Len down allowing him to fall asleep in his brother's arms.