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Junichiro and his sister had a complex relationship. To most of those outside of their inner circle, they appeared to be a couple, a young one that couldn’t keep their hands off of one another. To their friends and the agency, they were weird, a brother-sister pair who was too handsy with each other, in a way that breached societal norms as well. Of course, Naomi was the more handsy one, but Junichiro never made a move to stop her, they just made the assumption that he was enjoying what his sister was doing.
Between them, however, it all made sense. They had never done anything physical, maybe a hand up each other's shirts on a particularly bad day, when the memories got to be too much, at most. But this too breached the normality of society.
But the Tanizaki siblings were used to this kind of touch from their family. Their parents were.. Well lets just say they never shied away from touching their children in odd ways, especially behind closed doors. The siblings had simply grown up touching each other like this. Although as they got older their closeness was seen as awkward, something that needed to be seen to and treated rather than siblings being close. Their attachment to one another never broke though, no matter how much their teachers or relatives tried to push them apart into what would be socially acceptable. Naomi always got antsy when her brother was away from her for too long, and Junichiro could get violent when his sister was taken away from him without his agreement. Of course, when reunited they could always calm the other down. But that never stopped people from trying to separate them.
At least, that was until they joined the Agency. While their fellow members looked at them warily whenever they displayed their seemingly odd way of expressing their affection for one another, they never tried to forcefully stop it. Of course, they got told that they couldn’t go as far as normal when in meetings or with clients, but that was already a given, and both of the siblings were perfectly fine as long as they got to be next to each other.
Junichiro was always over protective of his little sister, her having gotten the worst of their parents ‘love.’ He protected her from those creeps on the street who just couldn’t take a hint. He protected her from the bullies at their old school who just couldn’t seem to leave his admittedly pretty sister alone, always trying to dim her shine with their scissors and rumors. He protected her, and walked by her side. When their parents got arrested for what they did to them, he was there with her when they did their tests and asked their questions.
“What happened?”
“What did they do to you?”
“How many times?”
“When did it start?”
He was there, holding her hand, talking for her when she couldn’t say the answers aloud. He was right next to her side when she had a panic attack from the tests, holding her to his chest and telling her to breathe. In, out. In, out. He held her hand, let her squeeze him until he felt his bones would break, he stayed. It’s what she did for him after all.
When he cried over how he couldn’t get his chest to just be flat. When he couldn’t stand the parts bestowed upon him by his creator. She helped him choose his name, his haircut, everything. She was with him too, with the questions and tests, helped him explain the name changes and his discomfort with being touched by anyone but his sister.
They helped each other, the Tanizaki siblings. And they continued to do so in their almost-adulthood. Let the other touch them when the memories got too bad and they just needed something, anything, to keep them grounded and remember where they were now. And yes, sometimes they needed to do so in public. They didn’t owe anyone the thousand step story of what happened not even seven years ago.
Junichiro couldn’t believe it. Not even seven years. He tried to push it to the back of his mind as often as he could, but sometimes small reminders like this bubble up. It bothered him that it hadn’t even been seven years since he saw them getting hauled away in that car. Since they touched him, laid their hands on him. On his precious sister. He hated them. He wished they rotted in the jail cell he’s unsure if they’re still in or not. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want any knowledge about how they were doing. He and his sister had a restraining order against them for a reason.
He wished he could kill them. Take out all the violence he suppressed over the years because of them, not being able to do anything with his anger created a tension in his shoulders he still couldn’t shake, the only way to shake it being to hurt and hurt and hurt. He wished they would die. Not so much what they did to him, although he did despise them for that, but what they did to Naomi. They took her so much more than him, her beauty making her more pleasing. He did everything he could to make sure his sister wasn’t reminded of them, he did the cooking, the shopping, he didn’t ask her to dress up for anything. He wouldn’t put her through anything like that again.
Walking hand in hand with his beloved sister to work, he pondered upon these things, letting his sister tug him this way and that in the direction of the agency. He knew some of his missions would be rougher today, but he was partnered with Kenji for most of them, and that kid seemed to be able to get anyone to tell the truth or bend to his formidable strength, so he would be fine. Kenji didn’t even mind Naomi and his relationship, so missions with him were his favorite. Naomi could help him fill out his paperwork if there weren’t any important clients for her to deal with, so if they both wanted - which they did - they could spend the whole day together.
The door to the cafe below the agency jingled when it opened, the workers looking over at them. Junichiro looked over at the clock. Its ticking hands pointed to 6:13. They had almost an hour until they had to clock in at the agency.
“Do you wanna get something, sis?” Junichiro offered. “We have enough time for some tea, if you want it.”
Naomi’s gray eyes flicked over to her brother, “I don’t mind. If you want to get something we can. Tea does sound kinda good right now though.”
“Then it’s decided, let’s get some!” Junichiro gently tugged his sister by the hand to the counter. “What do you want, Naomi?”
“Green tea please, brother.” Naomi responded, fiddling with the bow on her uniform.
“Okay. Two green teas please.” Junichiro asked the person who had approached the register. She nodded sharply and typed out their order on the register, the keys clicking beneath her fingers.
“320 yen please.” She told them their total. Junichiro quickly pulled out his wallet, counting out the clinking coins.
Junichiro chose one of the tables near the windows so that he could look out at the fluffy clouds bumping around in the sky. A small smile lit up his face as he saw them moving lethargically across the sky. Their tea came quickly, piping hot as it slid down his throat. It burned a little, but he didn’t mind. Naomi drank hers quickly as well, seemingly wanting the escape of work he desired as well.
They finished and headed up to the elevator. Naomi quickly pressed the button for the fourth floor and they stood there embracing each other as the elevator leisurely went up, dinging as it came into contact with each floor. Junichiro enjoyed the almost weightless feeling it gave him, as if he was flying. They stepped out onto the floor of the agency. Kunikida was already there, seeing as he gets there when the building opens. Atsushi was asking him a few questions about paperwork, and Kenji was sitting at his desk, drinking a mug of coffee with an ungodly amount of creamer and slowly finishing his paperwork from yesterday before they headed out on their mission. He still hadn’t gotten used to things like writing seeing as he had only joined the agency a couple of months ago and hadn’t really needed to write. Junichiro was glad to see he was getting the hang of it, although his characters were still a little sloppy.
Junichiro quickly walked over to his desk, pulling out a couple of files he thought needed a little work from yesterday. Naomi pulled some of hers out too, getting to work swiftly so that she could accompany him on at least one or two of his missions. Their sides were touching, and Junichiro could feel the warmth radiating off of his beloved sister. He soaked it up like a lizard in the sun.
Junichiro finished his paperwork in a matter of minutes, putting it in the bin near the Boss’s office where he could pick up and review paperwork at any time. He looked over at Kenji, who was pushing himself up, seemingly done with his paperwork.
“Hiya Kenji! You ready for our missions?” He asked with enthusiasm, hoping that today could be one of the better ones.
“Yup! Just let me give this to Mr. Fukuzawa and I’ll be all set.” Kenji replied with just as much enthusiasm.
“Great! I’ll be waiting for you next to the elevator.” Junichiro said and started walking away. As soon as he closed the door to the agency office, he sighed and tangled his hands in his hair. He really really wished today would be one of the better days.