Drowning in the Petriarchy
Title: Drowning in the Petriarchy
Series: Free!
Length: 560 words
Genre: Humor
Characters: Rin, Nagisa
Summary: Rin had no say in his sister's relationship.
Rin hadn’t prepared anything to say in this situation.
What could he say? He had no right to go flexing his big brother muscle now. Gou’s life and choices were hers. She’d done her growing up without him and didn’t need him injecting his opinion.
Still, the word “boyfriend” had made him twitch, just for a second. Hell, part of him expected Momo to always be hanging around, persistent as a pup.
So his fingers, so used to snatching at Momo’s collar, had instinctively grabbed Nagisa’s shirt and dragged him into the other room.
The boy in question stood before him, arms casually behind his back, rocking on his heels, wearing a pleasant smile and looking at him with expectant eyes.
Nagisa, of all people.
“I guess this is where I’m supposed to say something,” Rin finally muttered, scratching his head to stall. He had nothing to say after all. “Just… don’t make her cry, okay?”
Nagisa blinked. “Never! I love Gou-chan!”
That threw Rin as much as the boyfriend word. “Love?”
“Of course! I love everyone! I love you and Rei-chan and Haru-chan and Mako-chan and-”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” That was just Nagisa’s way. He did love everyone. Nagisa knew no strangers, only people who hadn’t yet surrendered to his unrelenting genki.
“But, you know, Gou-chan’s mean to me sometimes!” Nagisa’s attempt to sound pitiful and oppressed was spoiled by the note of affection in his voice. “She’s super bossy, and she only lets me have one Iwatobi cream bread with my lunch, and she pushes me really hard to do my best, and she’s got me on a strict study schedule so we can get into the same school next year.”
They’d thought that far ahead.
“But sometimes I do annoy her on purpose,” Nagisa continued with a good-natured laugh. “When she’s mad, she gets this little line right here-” He drew his index finger along the inside of his right eye. “And it’s just so cute!” He shrugged, then his laugh was replaced with a completely serious expression. “But yeah,” he said simply. “I love her.”
Rin realized it couldn’t be anyone but Nagisa. Gou didn’t need anyone to take care of her, would bristle at the very idea, which made Nagisa perfect for her. He would take care of her whether she wanted him to or not.
“Okay,” Rin replied after a long pause, and he nodded. “Okay.”
A swishing motion caught his attention; they were no longer alone in the room.
Rin crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and tilted his head toward the intruder. “Besides, it’s not my approval you need. It’s Steve’s.”
If he expected Nagisa to be at a loss just as he had been, Rin was in for another surprise. Nagisa waved a careless hand and giggled. “Ah, no worries, no worries! Me and Stevie-chan are cool.” He reached down to scratch the fat cat behind his ears.
“St-Stevie… chan?”
“Yeah, we go way back, right, Stevie-chan?”
Steve purred and leaned into Nagisa’s petting, then gave Rin a disdainful side-eye and stuck his tail straight up.
Rin’s teeth clenched. That stupid fat bastard cat had flipped him off.
“Stevie… chan…”
“Yeah!” Nagisa looked up and grinned. “Ah, Rin-chan! You get it, too!” He drew the line inside his eye again. “It’s not cute on you, though.”
Series: Free!
Length: 560 words
Genre: Humor
Characters: Rin, Nagisa
Summary: Rin had no say in his sister's relationship.
Rin hadn’t prepared anything to say in this situation.
What could he say? He had no right to go flexing his big brother muscle now. Gou’s life and choices were hers. She’d done her growing up without him and didn’t need him injecting his opinion.
Still, the word “boyfriend” had made him twitch, just for a second. Hell, part of him expected Momo to always be hanging around, persistent as a pup.
So his fingers, so used to snatching at Momo’s collar, had instinctively grabbed Nagisa’s shirt and dragged him into the other room.
The boy in question stood before him, arms casually behind his back, rocking on his heels, wearing a pleasant smile and looking at him with expectant eyes.
Nagisa, of all people.
“I guess this is where I’m supposed to say something,” Rin finally muttered, scratching his head to stall. He had nothing to say after all. “Just… don’t make her cry, okay?”
Nagisa blinked. “Never! I love Gou-chan!”
That threw Rin as much as the boyfriend word. “Love?”
“Of course! I love everyone! I love you and Rei-chan and Haru-chan and Mako-chan and-”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” That was just Nagisa’s way. He did love everyone. Nagisa knew no strangers, only people who hadn’t yet surrendered to his unrelenting genki.
“But, you know, Gou-chan’s mean to me sometimes!” Nagisa’s attempt to sound pitiful and oppressed was spoiled by the note of affection in his voice. “She’s super bossy, and she only lets me have one Iwatobi cream bread with my lunch, and she pushes me really hard to do my best, and she’s got me on a strict study schedule so we can get into the same school next year.”
They’d thought that far ahead.
“But sometimes I do annoy her on purpose,” Nagisa continued with a good-natured laugh. “When she’s mad, she gets this little line right here-” He drew his index finger along the inside of his right eye. “And it’s just so cute!” He shrugged, then his laugh was replaced with a completely serious expression. “But yeah,” he said simply. “I love her.”
Rin realized it couldn’t be anyone but Nagisa. Gou didn’t need anyone to take care of her, would bristle at the very idea, which made Nagisa perfect for her. He would take care of her whether she wanted him to or not.
“Okay,” Rin replied after a long pause, and he nodded. “Okay.”
A swishing motion caught his attention; they were no longer alone in the room.
Rin crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and tilted his head toward the intruder. “Besides, it’s not my approval you need. It’s Steve’s.”
If he expected Nagisa to be at a loss just as he had been, Rin was in for another surprise. Nagisa waved a careless hand and giggled. “Ah, no worries, no worries! Me and Stevie-chan are cool.” He reached down to scratch the fat cat behind his ears.
“St-Stevie… chan?”
“Yeah, we go way back, right, Stevie-chan?”
Steve purred and leaned into Nagisa’s petting, then gave Rin a disdainful side-eye and stuck his tail straight up.
Rin’s teeth clenched. That stupid fat bastard cat had flipped him off.
“Stevie… chan…”
“Yeah!” Nagisa looked up and grinned. “Ah, Rin-chan! You get it, too!” He drew the line inside his eye again. “It’s not cute on you, though.”