Tears and Silence

---

**Isuma sat in the dining room and waited. Minutes passed, and the only sound in the small apartment was the television that Yoichi was watching.**

But we focus on the "child" Isuma, who continued sitting, staring at the ceiling of the apartment.

**(POV: Isuma)**

As I stared at the ceiling, I began to murmur to myself:

**Isuma:** "I'm nervous, not because my mother is dead, but because I'm worried about what Yoichi will think and do. He's just a kid, but I have the mind of an adult in a child's body... That sounded weird."

But my murmur was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. I got up from the dining room and went to the door. Yoichi didn't move, and when I opened it, I found Jiro, still wearing his elegant black suit and shoes of the same color.

When he saw me, Jiro looked at me and said in his typical monotone voice:

**Jiro:** "You live in the poorest neighborhoods, kid. But anyway, tell me, why did you call me?"

I looked at him, smiled, cleared my throat, closed the door behind me, and responded in a low but audible voice:

**Isuma:** "My mother overdosed, and I don't want my brother to see the body."

Jiro touched his head and replied:

**Jiro:** "Alright, I'll help you. Now, do you know if you have any relatives who can take care of you?"

I shrugged and answered:

**Isuma:** "I don't know. My mother never talked about them or anyone else."

**Jiro:** "I see. I'll take care of the body. You explain the situation to your brother, somewhere far from here."

He took out his wallet from his back pocket and handed me 300 yen, saying:

**Jiro:** "Here, take this and buy your brother something while I handle this."

I bowed to him, opened the door, and as I did, I asked Yoichi:

**Isuma:** "Brother, would you like to go somewhere?"

Yoichi turned down the volume on the TV, looked at me, and responded:

**Yoichi:** "Yeah, sure, brother."

With a quick movement, Yoichi turned off the TV, got up from the floor, and we left the house as Jiro entered.

Outside, with Yoichi's hand held in my left hand, we began to walk down the stairs in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

After several minutes of descending, we reached the ground floor of the apartments. The first thing I saw were homeless people and the "ladies of the night," some of them with body mutations, thanks to quirks...

Ignoring the others, I kept walking until a blue system screen appeared in front of me, showing the message:

**(System: Update required: Yes/No)**

I thought "Yes," and the screen closed.

Back in the real world, we stopped far from the apartment, and I stopped Yoichi. He looked at me. I cleared my throat and said:

**Isuma:** "I don't know how to say this, but here I go. I have to tell you something very sad. Mom has passed away. That means her body stopped working, and she won't be coming back."

Yoichi didn't respond; he was in shock, showing no emotion. Seconds passed, and suddenly, I saw him cry. Then, I told myself:

**Isuma:** "Get closer and cry, brother."

Being my twin brother, but with me having better genetics and therefore being taller, I pulled him to my chest and felt his tears start to soak my shirt...

He looked at me, and despite the tears, he tried to smile. With a forced smile, he asked me:

**Yoichi:** "What now, brother?"

I looked at him, patted his head, and responded:

**Isuma:** "Brother, this is your chance. If you need to cry, cry all you want. Don't worry about the future; I'll take care of everything."

Once again, he rested his head on my chest, and we stayed like that for a few minutes.

After those minutes, he wiped the tears from his eyes, looked at me with a small smile, and said:

**Yoichi:** "Alright, I did it. Now tell me, brother, what are we going to do?"

I looked at him and, with a big smile, replied:

**Isuma:** "You don't have to worry about anything. I'll protect you with my soul and body."

Without responding, I just heard him murmur:

**Yoichi:** "{Thank you, brother}."

I cleared my throat again and said:

**Isuma:** "Brother, since we're halfway between the convenience store and the apartment, tell me, where do you want to go?"

**Yoichi:** "Let's go back to the apartment."

I gave him a thumbs up in response, and we headed back to the apartment.

Minutes later, in comfortable silence, we arrived at the building and began to climb the stairs, ignoring the other people in the building.

Finally, we reached the apartment. Outside, Jiro was smoking a cigarette. He looked at us, and I said to Yoichi:

**Isuma:** "Brother, go inside."

Yoichi nodded and went into the apartment.

I stayed next to Jiro, and he asked me:

**Jiro:** "Now, what are you going to do, kid?"

**Isuma:** "One thing is certain: I'll stay here. Anyway, the landlord only cares about the money; he doesn't ask where it comes from. And I'll keep going to school."

**Jiro:** "You know you need money."

**Isuma:** "Yeah, but I also want to fulfill my wish for power."

Jiro finished his cigarette and said:

**Jiro:** "Well, kid, take this."

From his hands, he handed me a paper and added:

**Jiro:** "Here's the certificate that your mother is being cremated. They might give her to you tomorrow."

I looked at him and asked:

**Isuma:** "How?"

**Jiro:** "It was a contact of mine. Don't worry about what you owe me; consider it a gift for joining the Yakuza. See you tomorrow at 7 p.m."

Without saying another word, Jiro threw his cigarette on the ground, and black liquid covered it, making it disappear.

With nothing else to do but listen to the fights of the drunks and homeless people, I entered the apartment.

--------

Many thanks to all the people who support this fan fic.

I accept any opinion, suggestion or anything because it will be welcome

And as I always told you, I don't speak 100% English.

If you write a review I will be eternally grateful.