The sound of birdsong filtered in through the window, creating a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. Daichi began to stir in his bed, a groggy feeling assaulting his senses.
He slowly sat up from the bed and looked around, surprise filling his features.
"My room?"
Daichi massaged his head, trying to remember what had happened last night.
"Ow…"
As he moved his hand, he felt a sting coming from his knuckles. After inspecting it, his eyes widened as memories began to flood into his mind.
A feeling of dread overcame Daichi as he remembered what he'd done last night. The scene of him laying into Ken over and over repeated in his mind.
'What have I done…'
Even if Ken had spoken all those words, it didn't justify the punishment he'd dealt out. What would his father and mother say when he went downstairs?
Daichi began to spiral into depression.
'Would they kick me out of the family for this?'
As his thoughts began to turn dark, he heard a knock on the door.
"Hey man, I'm going for a run. Are you coming?"
Daichi heard his brother's voice and almost didn't want to raise his head.
"Daichi?"
Hearing his name called, he slowly raised his gaze, looking upon the face of his brother. It was then that he saw the large black eye and bruises on the left side of his face.
He instantly felt sick.
"Ken… I'm so—"
"Hurry up man, otherwise I'm leaving without you." He said, cutting Daichi off.
Daichi's face morphed into one of sadness, but he slowly got out of bed. Since he was still in his clothes from yesterday, he decided not to change and followed Ken downstairs.
"Morning…" Yuki mumbled, sipping her morning coffee. Like usual she was in her zombified state.
However, to Daichi it seemed like she was being cold.
'They hate me…' He thought, feeling a pain in his chest.
Even though it hurt, it made sense. He wasn't their real child, of course they would be upset if he assaulted their son.
He made his way out the front door along with Ken and began to jog behind him, his thoughts a mess.
'Maybe they don't want me anymore… All I've done is cause them trouble.'
'Dad can't work now because of me. Tetsuhiro is also a threat… Won't it all go away if I just disappear?'
As these thoughts began to swirl in his mind, Ken's voice sounded out in front of him.
"Hurry up, we're changing pace."
With that, Ken began to run faster, leaving Daichi in the dust.
Daichi sped up, trying to match his pace, only catching up a few minutes later. By the time he arrived, Ken kicked it up another gear without a word, extending the gap.
A look of frustration appeared on Daichi's face as he saw Ken's back.
'You might hate me… But at least treat me like I'm a human being.' He thought, gritting his teeth as he increased his speed once more.
The same thing played out again once he got close enough. Ken kicked it up another gear, slowly causing Daichi to lose ground.
'So that's how it is…'
Daichi began to lose heart as he saw Ken's figure increasing in distance from him.
A pained expression formed on his face as he began to slow down. Ken had clearly made his intentions known and he wasn't going to be toyed with anymore.
"Don't you dare slow down!" Ken shouted from ahead of him, sending him a glare.
'What? Is he trying to provoke me again?' Daichi thought, his eyes narrowing.
However, the taunt seemed to work, forcing him to increase his speed once more.
This time it took him nearly 5 minutes to make up the distance. By the time he arrived, his breathing had already begun to get ragged.
The two ran side by side wordlessly, not even acknowledging each other. They had run together many times in the past, but this was the first time that Daichi had felt things were strained.
After around 25 minutes of keeping the same pace, Ken glanced at him briefly.
"One last spurt." He said, breaking into a sprint in the next moment.
Seeing Ken's figure shoot off, Daichi was surprised, yet he grit his teeth and did the same, trying to push his body to the limits.
"Haaah Haah"
His breathing became ragged as he pushed his tired body as hard as he could. His muscles were screaming at him, telling him to stop. Yet the back of Ken in front of him spurned him on.
Daichi's lungs were burning, his body hurt and his vision began to swim. Every fiber of his being wanted to stop—give up and rest.
"PUSH!"
Ken yelled out at the top of his lungs.
"ARGHHHHH!"
Daichi let out a guttural roar, pushing through his limits as he tried to keep up with Ken.
Through his blurred vision, he could see that they were coming up to the park where they would usually cool down. A sense of urgency overcame him as he judged the distance between him and Ken.
'I can win!' He shouted in his heart.
Daichi began to gain on Ken, his eyes locked onto the park coming up. As it rapidly approached, he made it neck and neck with his brother.
He turned his head, expecting to see a desperate expression on Ken's face, yet what he saw made him shocked.
Ken was looking forward with a giant grin on his face, as if he was having the best time of his life. The pure joy and happiness was shining through even the bruises that he'd left on his face.
'What? Why is he smiling?'
"I win!" Ken shouted as he crossed the threshold of the park boundary and began to slow down.
However, his victory was short lived as he quickly bent down and began to suck in deep gasps of air.
Daichi also slowed down and placed his hands on his head, trying to recover his breathing.