...20XX. ~12 years before present.
The Akantha line married into a rather wealthy family, seven years after the birth of their only child.
While their daughter couldn’t entirely understand what was going on, she had been told many times —
“You’ll be a lot happier here.”
“Your new brother will only be a little younger than you. You can bond!”
...Her mother smiled, and kept speaking of these things. Even the young daughter could understand the joy in her mother’s eyes — she saw that something better lay ahead.
...
“How do you like the new home, Gavial?”
“It’s above a shop, but that’s no issue, right?”
“Isn’t it so cozy, Gavial?”
The young lady nodded, and nodded, despite it all being a blur.
Above the sudden move, and above the change of pace that gave the young child incredible whiplash, someone kept showing up.
A boy, perhaps only a little younger than herself. His eyes were always on the floor, and while he spoke little, he seemed insistent to do everything for them.
Pushing their luggage with all the might a little boy could muster, keeping every door open, and pulling out chairs, the boy was a constant in every single area.
...
...She didn’t know what time it was at this point, as she lay in her bed.
To say she was confused about the move was putting it lightly — even though she was warned in advance, these sudden shifts in lifestyle left her dizzied and confused.
...Now that she was laying still, however, aspects of the room began to show their face.
Soft, off-white walls, with a wooden dresser just to the right of the door to enter. A small closet held her still-unpacked luggage, toys and all, and opposite to the door, a bunk bed that she’d claimed the top of.
Below her, of course, was this new ‘brother,’ this constant in every room. She couldn’t tell what the boy was doing from her position at the top of the bunk, but she could hear the opening and closing of a latch — and sounds of shuffling on his pillow.
...So, after a moment, the girl peeked over the bunk.
...A leather case lay open on the floor, as the boy held something in his lap.
A strange instrument that she couldn’t really recognize — a piano’s keys on one side, and a strange array of buttons on the other.
Between them lay a red-coloured midsection, like the bellows used to fan a flame in the fireplace back home — all brought together with a glossy red frame.
“...What’s that?”
Out of curiosity, she spoke, and accidentally broke her stealth — the young boy stiffened up, but glanced up after a moment.
“...It’s... an accordion. I guess it looks a little silly, doesn’t it?”
The young boy’s voice, she found, was shaky and a bit quiet — but he seemed to try and hide that with a soft smile, presumably to act like he wasn’t surprised.
“...An accordion?” Gavial questioned, the name of the instrument not exactly answering her question. “What’s that?”
...The boy paused for a second, glancing away, before scrambling to speak.
“—Well, it’s... Uhm, it’s an instrument that copies other instruments. The tre— er, the piano side and the b— uhm, the button side both play at the same time.”
...The boy glanced down to his instrument, though was interrupted by the girl above her piping up.
“...It’s an instrument that plays like other ones?” Gavial thought aloud, furrowing her brow. “Why not just play what it’s copying?”
Certainly, it didn’t make much sense to the young girl, and the boy didn’t respond for some time after that — simply looking down in response.
“...I’m really no good at anything else, so I’d rather play something I’m not bad at.”
...
...Before she could add anything, the boy had already packed away his ‘accordion,’ and moved back into his bed.
“Goodnight... Maybe I’ll try and play it tomorrow.”
The boy sighed, presumably covering himself in his sheets if the sounds beneath her were any indication.
...The girl sighed, and tucked herself in.
It seemed she’d not get an answer.
—x—
...School was something Gavial never quite looked forward to.
Skipping classes was by far and away a favourite pastime, even if she only ever let herself do it when she got sick.
Today, however, she had no such excuse — and judging by the earful her mother gave her for trying to hide in bed and play her video games, she couldn’t dare try to fake anything.
Breathing an exhausted sigh, she finally moved down the hallway, again met with a strange sight.
The first — that her new brother was attending the same school. In truth, she’d simply never noticed before.
The second — that he was again doing the same thing.
Again, she found the boy carrying things for other students. Even things that students would be able to carry easily, her brother was carrying it all en masse, only barely able to keep walking with all these mildly heavy things stacked up.
...However, she waved it off as simply her brother doing a favour for others. It fit in with what she already knew of the boy, and even if he did seem to be doing a bit too much, it didn’t seem strange to her.
...Even so...
...Once class had finished, and all was said and done, she saw the boy carry back a few extra papers than the others. While assigned homework was an inevitability, it seemed almost like the boy accepted extra work.
...
“What kind of..?”
...There was seriously no way that this nerd actually accepted extra work, right? This sort of thing was done for extra credit — was this guy the type to overachieve?
“...”
...Well, that remained to be seen.
—x—
...Another night brought the same situation as the last.
Gavial lay upon her bunk, her homework on the floor somewhat close to her bag.
Her brother, naturally, was occupied with whatever he was assigned as extra work. She shook her head in disbelief as she heard his pencil scratch against the paper — it was still ridiculous to her... Out of curiosity, though, she just had to know what exactly he was doing.
...Peering again over the bunk, she was met with about the sight she was expecting.
At a glance, he really was just working on questions — basic math, and not much more. But the questions seemed oddly familiar to her.
‘...Is he still working on the normal homework?’
...By squinting, she could read the title of the assignment — exactly the same one she and him had started almost an hour ago.
Even she had little trouble with it — something she was, admittedly, pretty happy about — and it had hardly taken her more than ten minutes.
If that was the case... He was still on the first question, wasn’t he? Why was he taking so long on this?
‘...And why would he give himself more work if he’s having trouble on the first question..?’
...
...Then, she squinted again, and looked to the left of the title.
...
...Although she had never actually asked for her brother’s name, she was fairly certain it wasn’t ‘Katie.’
...It wasn’t that he was having difficulty with it — he had other people’s homework to do.
“Hey. Why’s the name on your homework ‘Katie?’”
...She had to know — and while her brother again stiffened up, the boy responded after a moment, and kept working.
“Well, a lot of kids in the class say that they have difficulty with it, so they asked me to fill out their homework with the answers, and write down how I did it.”
Her brother smiled after a moment, and returned to work — as Gavial furrowed her brow.
“...So they’re making you do their homework for them?”
“—No! I’m just... Uhm, teaching them how to do it, too.”
...
...Gavial breathed a heavy sigh. Even so, things were really starting to come together.
His constant support... It was almost starting to worry her. Even though they’d only met only even a day ago, there was something rather wrong here.
It was one thing to be kind — and it was another to willingly do other people’s work to take up most of their night.
She had to do something. But what?
—x—
...Another day at school had initially started like any other.
Gavial watched her brother break off from their path after they entered, presumably to hand out the finished work to his ‘friends.’
And thus, her plan had begun.
Settling into her seat at the beginning of a seemingly normal math class, each student took turns handing their work in to the teach. She watched each student carefully, as if to watch their expressions — and breathed a silent sigh of relief as she saw everyone hand it in.
...All she had to do was wait until the end of class...
...And when that came, Gavial was greeted with quite a sight — perhaps six or seven kids being kept within class, as her brother slipped out alongside her.
“...I wonder if they’re okay... Did I not change my handwriting enough?”
Her brother glanced aside, gripping the side of his school uniform with an audible ‘gulp.’ In response, Gavial smiled a little bit.
“You’ll be fine. Can’t say the same about them, though.”
“—What do you mean..?”
The boy glanced towards his sister, incredulous, as Gavial grinned with a glint in her eye. She began walking out and away from the classroom, preferably as far away as possible.
“See, I stuck a note in those assignments last minute. Tellin’ the teach that they forced ya to do their work for them.”
As Gavial winked, her brother’s eyes widened — and, sputtering out a response, he raised his hands as if trying to deny it.
“But that’s no good at all! I was trying to help, and —“
“Listen, man,” Gavial interrupted, lightly flicking the boy in the head. “You’re trying to help, but they’re using that. It’s one thing to carry someone’s stuff for them, and it’s another entirely to do someone’s work for them.”
“—But, wait—“
“—No buts.”
...Gavial simply interrupted her brother again, furrowing her brow and holding her hand out in front of her brother’s face every time he tried to speak.
“And if you do it again, I’ll get them in trouble again.”
...And that, it seemed, caused her brother to look away in defeat.
“...That isn’t kind at all, though...”
“You don’t always have to help. There’ll be no time to play.”
Gavial sighed, almost surprised she had to explain such a thing to someone. It was as if this boy had seen the ‘golden rule’ they had been taught some time ago, and took it as literally as one could.
...If this was her brother’s reality, however, she had to try and break it. She had to show him that he didn’t have to do such things.
...Someone like that wouldn’t be able to have much fun if they had to help others all the time, right?
Even if she’d only known this boy for a day or two, she was his sister now. So she had to do her part to protect him.
She had to be strong for two people, so it seemed.
And so she would.
The Akantha line married into a rather wealthy family, seven years after the birth of their only child.
While their daughter couldn’t entirely understand what was going on, she had been told many times —
“You’ll be a lot happier here.”
“Your new brother will only be a little younger than you. You can bond!”
...Her mother smiled, and kept speaking of these things. Even the young daughter could understand the joy in her mother’s eyes — she saw that something better lay ahead.
...
“How do you like the new home, Gavial?”
“It’s above a shop, but that’s no issue, right?”
“Isn’t it so cozy, Gavial?”
The young lady nodded, and nodded, despite it all being a blur.
Above the sudden move, and above the change of pace that gave the young child incredible whiplash, someone kept showing up.
A boy, perhaps only a little younger than herself. His eyes were always on the floor, and while he spoke little, he seemed insistent to do everything for them.
Pushing their luggage with all the might a little boy could muster, keeping every door open, and pulling out chairs, the boy was a constant in every single area.
...
...She didn’t know what time it was at this point, as she lay in her bed.
To say she was confused about the move was putting it lightly — even though she was warned in advance, these sudden shifts in lifestyle left her dizzied and confused.
...Now that she was laying still, however, aspects of the room began to show their face.
Soft, off-white walls, with a wooden dresser just to the right of the door to enter. A small closet held her still-unpacked luggage, toys and all, and opposite to the door, a bunk bed that she’d claimed the top of.
Below her, of course, was this new ‘brother,’ this constant in every room. She couldn’t tell what the boy was doing from her position at the top of the bunk, but she could hear the opening and closing of a latch — and sounds of shuffling on his pillow.
...So, after a moment, the girl peeked over the bunk.
...A leather case lay open on the floor, as the boy held something in his lap.
A strange instrument that she couldn’t really recognize — a piano’s keys on one side, and a strange array of buttons on the other.
Between them lay a red-coloured midsection, like the bellows used to fan a flame in the fireplace back home — all brought together with a glossy red frame.
“...What’s that?”
Out of curiosity, she spoke, and accidentally broke her stealth — the young boy stiffened up, but glanced up after a moment.
“...It’s... an accordion. I guess it looks a little silly, doesn’t it?”
The young boy’s voice, she found, was shaky and a bit quiet — but he seemed to try and hide that with a soft smile, presumably to act like he wasn’t surprised.
“...An accordion?” Gavial questioned, the name of the instrument not exactly answering her question. “What’s that?”
...The boy paused for a second, glancing away, before scrambling to speak.
“—Well, it’s... Uhm, it’s an instrument that copies other instruments. The tre— er, the piano side and the b— uhm, the button side both play at the same time.”
...The boy glanced down to his instrument, though was interrupted by the girl above her piping up.
“...It’s an instrument that plays like other ones?” Gavial thought aloud, furrowing her brow. “Why not just play what it’s copying?”
Certainly, it didn’t make much sense to the young girl, and the boy didn’t respond for some time after that — simply looking down in response.
“...I’m really no good at anything else, so I’d rather play something I’m not bad at.”
...
...Before she could add anything, the boy had already packed away his ‘accordion,’ and moved back into his bed.
“Goodnight... Maybe I’ll try and play it tomorrow.”
The boy sighed, presumably covering himself in his sheets if the sounds beneath her were any indication.
...The girl sighed, and tucked herself in.
It seemed she’d not get an answer.
—x—
...School was something Gavial never quite looked forward to.
Skipping classes was by far and away a favourite pastime, even if she only ever let herself do it when she got sick.
Today, however, she had no such excuse — and judging by the earful her mother gave her for trying to hide in bed and play her video games, she couldn’t dare try to fake anything.
Breathing an exhausted sigh, she finally moved down the hallway, again met with a strange sight.
The first — that her new brother was attending the same school. In truth, she’d simply never noticed before.
The second — that he was again doing the same thing.
Again, she found the boy carrying things for other students. Even things that students would be able to carry easily, her brother was carrying it all en masse, only barely able to keep walking with all these mildly heavy things stacked up.
...However, she waved it off as simply her brother doing a favour for others. It fit in with what she already knew of the boy, and even if he did seem to be doing a bit too much, it didn’t seem strange to her.
...Even so...
...Once class had finished, and all was said and done, she saw the boy carry back a few extra papers than the others. While assigned homework was an inevitability, it seemed almost like the boy accepted extra work.
...
“What kind of..?”
...There was seriously no way that this nerd actually accepted extra work, right? This sort of thing was done for extra credit — was this guy the type to overachieve?
“...”
...Well, that remained to be seen.
—x—
...Another night brought the same situation as the last.
Gavial lay upon her bunk, her homework on the floor somewhat close to her bag.
Her brother, naturally, was occupied with whatever he was assigned as extra work. She shook her head in disbelief as she heard his pencil scratch against the paper — it was still ridiculous to her... Out of curiosity, though, she just had to know what exactly he was doing.
...Peering again over the bunk, she was met with about the sight she was expecting.
At a glance, he really was just working on questions — basic math, and not much more. But the questions seemed oddly familiar to her.
‘...Is he still working on the normal homework?’
...By squinting, she could read the title of the assignment — exactly the same one she and him had started almost an hour ago.
Even she had little trouble with it — something she was, admittedly, pretty happy about — and it had hardly taken her more than ten minutes.
If that was the case... He was still on the first question, wasn’t he? Why was he taking so long on this?
‘...And why would he give himself more work if he’s having trouble on the first question..?’
...
...Then, she squinted again, and looked to the left of the title.
...
...Although she had never actually asked for her brother’s name, she was fairly certain it wasn’t ‘Katie.’
...It wasn’t that he was having difficulty with it — he had other people’s homework to do.
“Hey. Why’s the name on your homework ‘Katie?’”
...She had to know — and while her brother again stiffened up, the boy responded after a moment, and kept working.
“Well, a lot of kids in the class say that they have difficulty with it, so they asked me to fill out their homework with the answers, and write down how I did it.”
Her brother smiled after a moment, and returned to work — as Gavial furrowed her brow.
“...So they’re making you do their homework for them?”
“—No! I’m just... Uhm, teaching them how to do it, too.”
...
...Gavial breathed a heavy sigh. Even so, things were really starting to come together.
His constant support... It was almost starting to worry her. Even though they’d only met only even a day ago, there was something rather wrong here.
It was one thing to be kind — and it was another to willingly do other people’s work to take up most of their night.
She had to do something. But what?
—x—
...Another day at school had initially started like any other.
Gavial watched her brother break off from their path after they entered, presumably to hand out the finished work to his ‘friends.’
And thus, her plan had begun.
Settling into her seat at the beginning of a seemingly normal math class, each student took turns handing their work in to the teach. She watched each student carefully, as if to watch their expressions — and breathed a silent sigh of relief as she saw everyone hand it in.
...All she had to do was wait until the end of class...
...And when that came, Gavial was greeted with quite a sight — perhaps six or seven kids being kept within class, as her brother slipped out alongside her.
“...I wonder if they’re okay... Did I not change my handwriting enough?”
Her brother glanced aside, gripping the side of his school uniform with an audible ‘gulp.’ In response, Gavial smiled a little bit.
“You’ll be fine. Can’t say the same about them, though.”
“—What do you mean..?”
The boy glanced towards his sister, incredulous, as Gavial grinned with a glint in her eye. She began walking out and away from the classroom, preferably as far away as possible.
“See, I stuck a note in those assignments last minute. Tellin’ the teach that they forced ya to do their work for them.”
As Gavial winked, her brother’s eyes widened — and, sputtering out a response, he raised his hands as if trying to deny it.
“But that’s no good at all! I was trying to help, and —“
“Listen, man,” Gavial interrupted, lightly flicking the boy in the head. “You’re trying to help, but they’re using that. It’s one thing to carry someone’s stuff for them, and it’s another entirely to do someone’s work for them.”
“—But, wait—“
“—No buts.”
...Gavial simply interrupted her brother again, furrowing her brow and holding her hand out in front of her brother’s face every time he tried to speak.
“And if you do it again, I’ll get them in trouble again.”
...And that, it seemed, caused her brother to look away in defeat.
“...That isn’t kind at all, though...”
“You don’t always have to help. There’ll be no time to play.”
Gavial sighed, almost surprised she had to explain such a thing to someone. It was as if this boy had seen the ‘golden rule’ they had been taught some time ago, and took it as literally as one could.
...If this was her brother’s reality, however, she had to try and break it. She had to show him that he didn’t have to do such things.
...Someone like that wouldn’t be able to have much fun if they had to help others all the time, right?
Even if she’d only known this boy for a day or two, she was his sister now. So she had to do her part to protect him.
She had to be strong for two people, so it seemed.
And so she would.